Emma Raducanu insists working on her game rather than winning matches is the priority this year.
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 on Thursday in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she has been given a wildcard.
The 21-year-old, who reached the fourth round in the Californian desert last year, has been training at home in London for the last couple of weeks, and she told the BBC: “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 also said that she is likely to play in next month’s Billie Jean King Cup tie against France if selected by Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong.
“I don’t know if I’ll get the call-up,” she said. “But if she asks me to, I think it makes sense because it’s before [the WTA tournament in] Stuttgart [which is also] on indoor clay.”
