Emma Raducanu is optimistic about her chances ahead of her clay court debut this weekend.
The teenager will represent Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup against Czech Republic with a place in the finals later this year the reward for the winner. She is the highest ranked player involved for either side, but has the disadvantage of never having played on this surface.
Raducanu has been training hard in Italy this week to get herself as familiar as she can ahead of the competitive action. She has been working with renowned coach Riccardo Piatti before travelling to Prague.
"I feel like I could love the longer points – building it, having the time on the ball to really be aggressive," the 19-year-old said after getting to grips with clay. She will hope it pays off when she takes to the court on Friday.
First up for the teenager is Tereza Martincova, while fellow Briton Harriet Dart will take on Marketa Vondrousova. The following day, the opponents will switch and Raducanu will have the challenge of taking on the 2019 French Open finalist in what will be only her second game on clay.
The intense training in Italy may have helped her to get familiar with the surface, but it also had the unfortunate side-effect of causing a toe problem. "I have no toenails. It's just my foot, my shoes, they've just been sliding around a lot," she said.
But she feels good about what she has learned, adding: "I feel like I do like sliding, and once I time it right and spend more time on clay I'm sure this could be a really good surface for me. I feel like I have got a lot more potential physically. I'll learn more about it over time. I feel like I can really use it and play aggressive whilst also being able to move well."
Raducanu leads the team despite her inexperience because of her ranking from winning the US Open last September. It is the first Great Britain team to take part in the Billie Jean King Cup since 2010 which has not featured at least one of Johanna Konta or Heather Watson.
Captain Anne Keothavong has been talking up her new team leader, and said: "I guess a lot has happened over the past year and obviously Emma's success has been highlighted and we've seen what she's been able to achieve in such a short space of time.
"So we're kind of getting into the unknown a little bit, and there has been a bit of a changing of the guard. I'm sure Emma will embrace her position, lead the team by example and really grow in that role in the years to come."
