Emma Raducanu made a triumphant return on the grass courts of the 2024 Nottingham Open but was highly critical of the absence of the Hawk-Eye challenge system.
Raducanu played her first match since late April when she bowed out of the Madrid Open. Since then, she elected not to compete in the Roland Garros qualifying tournament to prepare for the grass-court season.
It remains to be seen whether that decision will bear any fruit, but the British tennis star scored her first win on the lawns since the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
The 21-year-old is a wild card entrant at her home tournament in Nottingham, where she played World No. 274 Ena Shibahara in the first round. The Japanese player is an experienced doubles operator but doesn’t have a great track record in singles at the top level.
Raducanu took full advantage of Shibahara’s inexperience in singles on the WTA Tour, winning 6-1, 6-4. However, the former US Open champion was unimpressed by the tour’s inability to implement an electronic line-calling system.
She questioned the integrity and fairness of the officiating, but considering this is a WTA 250 tournament, it’s not a huge surprise, and Raducanu did not make a melee about it, as every player has to deal with the drawback.
“I feel like I was playing two-vs-one on court, it was insane. I would have used probably at least four challenges! A lot of the time they go both ways, today I felt they were all against me but it just makes me feel better that I managed to beat her and the umpire as well.
“It is difficult when there is no challenge but it is something everyone has to deal with. It’s something I had to deal with and overcome. I am very pleased with the attitude I came out with from the get-go and also having to deal with the adversity.”
