Emma Raducanu pleased to pass injury test as she gears up for Coco Gauff battle

Raducanu sparked fears she could miss the year's first Grand Slam after retiring hurt from her second-round match at the Auckland Classic.

"Everything I've done has been quite controlled in the last week," the 2021 U.S. Open champion told reporters. "So to test it out in a real match, and with the unpredictability and stuff, just getting used to it in the beginning.

"But it felt good."

Raducanu wasted little time in reaching the second round, dismissing Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-2 to set up a showdown with Coco Gauff.

The Briton said the injury did not play on her mind once she found her groove.

"If anything, it's not mental, it's more just like physical and playing, seeing how it is," Raducanu said, adding that she was looking forward to her match against 18-year-old Gauff.

"I'm very up for it," she said. "Coco's obviously done a lot of great things and she's playing well. I think we're both good, young players, we're both coming through. Part of the next generation of tennis, really.

"When she first came at Wimbledon, after that, it took her a little bit to adjust as well, but she definitely found her feet. She's playing really good tennis and looking really solid right now.

"She's a great athlete with big weapons."

GAUFF SAYS RADUCANU UNDER MORE PRESSURE

Gauff burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old and was quickly touted as the "next big thing" but the American said on Monday the pressure she faced paled in comparison to that heaped on the shoulders of British standard-bearer Raducanu.

Raducanu was the first Briton in 45 years to win a Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in 2021 but she is unseeded in Melbourne after falling down the rankings during an injury-ravaged season last year.

"Obviously she's gone through a lot of pressure, bursting onto the scene. I feel like probably more than I have experienced coming to win a Slam," Gauff told reporters after her 6-1 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova.

"Especially being from the U.K., the first British person to do something in a long time, probably is a lot more pressure than what I'm used to being an American.

"Obviously I was a lot younger when I got the attention, so I definitely think handling it at an older age is a little bit easier than at 15. But also, at the same time, I didn't win a Slam."

Gauff, whose best Grand Slam result is runner-up at the French Open last year, said Serena Williams was the player her compatriots looked to before the 23-times major winner retired.

Now, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Shelby Rogers were there to share the spotlight with her, said Gauff.

"There's always, for American fans, someone to look to. Whereas I feel like (for) the British it's just her. There's other British players, but no one has done what she's done and gotten that far in a Slam."