Emma Raducanu says she is "a night owl" but not when it comes to playing tennis.
On the opening day of the Australian Open, the 28th-seeded Briton registered a 6-4 6-1 win in the last match of the day scheduled for Margaret Court Arena.
When the schedule for Day 1 was released and Raducanu saw that she was playing in the night session after the Alexander Bublik and Jenson Brooksby match, she wasn't too pleased about it. The 2021 US Open champion said the scheduling "did not make sense" and also suggested that she wouldn't want the Bublik and Brooksby match to turn in a marathon.
"I think it’s very difficult to be scheduling women’s matches after a potential five-set match. To me, it doesn’t really make as much sense," the Briton said in her pre-tournament press conference.
Raducanu: I'm a night owl, but not to play
Fortunately for the 23-year-old Briton, Bublik didn't have many problems against Brooksby as the Kazakh ousted the American in straight sets.
When Raducanu hit the court, she struggled a bit early on as Mananchaya opened a 4-2 first-set lead. After a slow start, the rest of the match was completely dominated by the No. 28 seed, who won 10 of the next 11 games to register a 6-4 6-1 win.
Later in her post-match press conference, the British tennis player described how her day looked.
"I had a very chill breakfast, walked around for 45 minutes, walked back, had treatment, a chat with the team, then took a nap and came in. I came in [to Melbourne Park] at 5:30pm, started with my routines and practiced at 6pm. I'm a night owl, but not to play," the 23-year-old said after beating Mananchaya.
By beating Sawangkaew, the top-ranked British female tennis player ensured continuing her streak of winning at least one Australian Open match. In the past, she once exited Melbourne in the third round and three times in the second round.
Next up for Raducanu at the Australian Open will be a career-first meeting against Anastasia Potapova, who overcame Suzan Lamens.
