Emma Raducanu plays Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open; watch continued coverage from Indian Wells, live on Sky Sports Tennis from 6.30pm, Thursday
Thursday 7 March 2024 10:03, UK
Emma Raducanu insists she is "not too concerned" about tournament results and instead want to work on her game at Indian Wells this week, live on Sky Sports.
The former US Open champion has won three of the seven matches she has played in 2024 following her return from triple surgery last spring on both wrists and one ankle.
Raducanu will play Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Tennis from 7pm.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of her opening match, Raducanu said that her priority this year is to develop her game. "I want to work on becoming a better tennis player.
"I think for me, I'm not too concerned about this year's tournaments. A lot of people out there would say that I need matches, but I think that for me, I want to work on my game and development.
"Taking time to do that is very necessary and not just following the crowd, or playing a lot of matches, or dropping down (below the WTA Tour) to do that. I want to work on developing skills."
Raducanu played her best tennis of 2023 in Indian Wells, reaching the fourth round having found out just before the tournament began that she was likely to need surgery on both her wrists.
"It's just a bit of a journey for me," she added. "You don't really know what to expect after being out for eight months.
"I felt like because I was so go-go-go since December, I felt like I became a little fatigued, so it was good to go back, freshen up and practise for the American swing, which I'm a big fan of."
British No 1 Katie Boulter was brought back down to earth with a straight-sets loss to Camila Giorgi in her first-round match at Indian Wells.
Boulter arrived at the tournament riding a crest of a wave after she secured a maiden WTA 500 title at the San Diego Open to continue her excellent 2024.
It earned the British No 1 a new career-best ranking of 27, but her momentum was checked after a 6-3 6-2 loss in quick fashion to Italian opponent Giorgi.
In the men's draw, Andy Murray set up a clash with No 5 seed Andrey Rublev after winning his first-round match against qualifier David Goffin on Wednesday, but Jack Draper was knocked out with a 1-6 6-3 6-2 defeat to Christopher O'Connell.
Dan Evans plays Roman Safiullin at around 9pm on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Tennis, with No 29 seed Sebastian Korda lying in wait should he progress.
British men's No 1 Cameron Norrie will take on either Lorenzo Sonego or Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round after receiving a bye due to being seeded No 28.
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Anthony Joshua's heavyweight showdown with Francis Ngannou takes place on Friday March 8, live on Sky Sports Box Office with the main event expected around 11pm.
