British No. 1 Emma Raducanu got back to winning ways under the watch of returning “part time” coach Mark Petchey in a 6-1,6-3 over Anastasia Zakharova in Indian Wells.
In and out of form Raducanu made a second-round exit at the Australian Open in January, then the 2021 US Open champion reached only the second final of her career iat the Transylvania open Romania but then failed to win a match in either Doha or Dubai.
The 23-year-old looked like a completely different player in the Californian desert, compared with her form in The Gulf, brushing aside the Russian qualifier to book her spot in the last 32 of the WTA 1000 event.
The return of former coach Mark Petchey to Raducanu’s corner on a temporary basis undoubtedly made a difference, with the familiar face watching on approvingly as his charge dominated from start to finish.
The 23 year old said after the match “I think my game was in a really good place,”
“I hadn’t necessarily felt so good for the last month, so I’m really pleased with the work we did for the last week and just for it to transfer on the match court like that gives you huge confidence that you are doing the right thing.
“Today’s match was a great display for myself of how I want to be playing, of what I want to be feeling like when I’m on the court.”
“That was a great kind of show of my game today. I played really well.”
She added that returning to her natural attacking style has been key: “For me, returning is such a strength of mine and when I’m returning well, it makes me a different player.”
Raducanu had received a first-round bye as the 25th seed, will face world number six Amanda Anisimova in the third round.
