‘No toenails left’: Emma Raducanu puts in hard yards for first feat of clay

Of all of the elementary milestones that Emma Raducanu had not yet notched up before she won the US Open so early into her career, few are as unbelievable as what awaits her as she leads Great Britain into battle against the Czech Republic in Prague on her Billie Jean King Cup debut. On Friday, Raducanu will compete in a professional clay court match for the first time.

As she has prepared for this moment in recent weeks, Raducanu’s unfamiliarity on the surface is reflected on her body: “I have no toenails,” said Raducanu, laughing, after the draw ceremony. “Just my foot, my shoes, they’ve just been sliding around a lot.” Anne Keothavong, the GB captain, joked that the rest of the team is “scarred” by the sight of her nails.

Raducanu remembers travelling to the Czech Republic to compete in a junior club league on clay aged 11, one of her first tennis trips abroad. Otherwise, her clay court experience amounts to a few brief summers on the surface and nine ITF junior tournaments, her last match coming four years ago.

How clay matches up with her game will be an interesting sight. Raducanu has so far enjoyed her success on grass and faster hard courts that complement her preference for taking the ball on the rise inside the baseline. The slow, high-bouncing clay rewards those who are also capable of carefully opening the court by generating topspin and width from behind it.

“I genuinely believe that clay could be one of my strongest surfaces because [of] the moving aspect,” she said. “I do like moving … because I feel like I have a lot more potential physically. And I do enjoy sliding. After spending more time on this surface I’m sure I’ll time it better and learn more about the surface, but also just the time that clay