Emma Raducanu has just learned the difference between good and great ...Middle East

Emma Raducanu is seemingly engaged in a never-ending experiment to determine what species of tennis player she really is. A champion? Yes. A serial loser? Also yes. Physically brittle? Yes. Mentally resilient? Absolutely.

It was perhaps unfair for her to meet Iga Swiatek so early in this visit to the Roland Garros laboratory. Though both were slam-winning teens, Raducanu at 18, Swiatek at 19, the story diverges dramatically thereafter.  

Swiatek’s record in Paris is ridiculous, losing only two of her 39 matches, the last as defending champion in 2021. Since then she has left each year with the crown, taking her total to five grand slams at the age of 23. So this was in every sense a free hit for Raducanu.

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Not only was she already 4 and 0 against Swiatek, she had never taken a set off her. Swiatek had supposedly developed a worrying weakness on her forehand side and while she has not contested a final since winning her fourth French Open title a year ago, there was little sign of it here.

The struggle for Raducanu is Sisyphean, always somewhere on that hill looking up with the world on her shoulders, wondering when she might ever reach the summit again. Her ranking of 41 is considered a positive. Swiatek’s at No 5 is seen as a negative.

Raducanu at least entered the arena in better health, the mystery sickness that afflicted her in the first round seen off by a good night’s sleep and enthusiastic carb-loading. Understandably, Raducanu appeared nervous as she waited for the prompt to enter Philippe Chatrier, the ear buds working overtime to dilute the tension with her favourite playlist.

Swiatek walked into the sunlight as if she were heading straight to her desk, just another day in the office. This kind of signalling can mean everything and nothing. That would be revealed when the ball was in play. Raducanu was quickly on the offensive, letting off screams of aggression on winning key points.

It is in this mental space where Raducanu must make up most ground. And that can only come in the arena against players like Swiatek. In her last contest against an opponent of Swiatek’s calibre, Coco Gauff in Madrid a fortnight ago, Raducanu claimed only three games despite being in some big points.

Gauff was always there, hitting winners and when the rallies went long, forcing Raducanu into the error. This was a lot like that, the intensity on both sides of the net was fierce, yet it was Swiatek who motored through.

A generation ago British No 1 Tim Henman added John McEnroe’s American doubles partner Peter Fleming to his coaching team to learn how to linger longer in rallies against the best. Fleming observed that Henman was competitive for a set but did not have the gears to compete thereafter.

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Gradually Henman added stamina and experience to his serve and volley to evolve into player capable of going deep in grand slams everywhere except Paris. Raducanu and Swiatek are only 18 months apart but in heft and presence there are light years between them.

Swiatek is a serious athlete, powerful as well as robust. Raducanu has neither Swiatek’s engine nor her physicality. But that is not to say she cannot acquire both.

The scoreline did not reflect her contribution. Her ability to push Swiatek all the way in some points, particularly in the opening set and early in the second, was clear. But as the match wore on, Swiatek became ever more relentless, the scoreboard pressure as well as her groundstrokes weighing heavily on the vanquished.

Raducanu just has to keep turning up, giving it everything without losing a sense of herself. Raducanu is a seriously good tennis player. But in Paris, as in Madrid, she was up against a great.

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