(Reuters) – Emma Raducanu said people will have to be patient as the 18-year-old looks to establish herself on the WTA Tour after her fairytale U.S. Open triumph last month.
Raducanu stunned the sporting world when she won the Flushing Meadows title as a qualifier.
But the Briton was knocked out in the second round at Indian Wells when she returned to action this month and is still without a coach after parting ways with former Davis Cup player Andrew Richardson.
Raducanu will face Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in her opening match of the Transylvania Open in Romania later on Tuesday and the world number 23 said it was important to temper expectations.
“I feel like everyone should just be a little patient with me,” she told British media on Monday.
“I am going to find my tennis, I just need a little bit of time. Things have happened rather fast, I am learning a lot.
“I just need to be patient with myself, not expect too much. I am learning to accept it is not so smooth. In the long term, I know it will be up and down.”
Former world number one Simona Halep backed Raducanu to break into the world’s top 10.
“She did something great and, probably, she will need some time to see how it is every week to be there,” Halep said. “And then she will become much stronger.”
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
