Not long after Emma Raducanu completed a hard-fought 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over in-form Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens in the Mutua Madrid Open first round, the Brit realised it had been three years since she last won a match on outdoor clay.

Three years can feel like a lifetime in the world of professional tennis and Raducanu acknowledges that figuring out her game on the clay will be a marathon, not a sprint.

“Honestly I don’t feel like that used to it, that experienced (on clay),” Raducanu told reporters at the Caja Magica ahead of her second-round clash with Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.

“I think it does feel completely new to me and I think I’m okay with accepting that and I’m okay with you knowing that it is a surface that can be great for me, just because of the way I play and my athleticism, but for the moment it’s not one that I feel incredibly amazing and confident on.

“But I think just learning and playing my way into these tournaments is going to help for the bank of experience in the future.”

The win over Lamens was not a straightforward affair and it required a great deal of hustle from Raducanu, who dropped serve three times and landed 61% of her first serves in but still managed to squeeze through in straight sets.

The 2021 US Open champion was pleased with how resilient she was throughout the two-hour match and was grateful to have Andy Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey in her corner. Petchey, who also does commentary at tennis tournaments, is coaching Raducanu on an adhoc basis, and has been a vocal presence in her matches so far since Miami. Longtime friend and mentor Jane O’Donoghue has also been part of Raducanu’s travelling crew for the past couple of months.

“It’s really nice having the on-court coaching and being able to communicate with them and have them involved during the match, I think they did a great job of keeping me relaxed in certain tense moments,” explained Raducanu, who re-entered the top-50, for the first time since August 2022, after reaching the quarter-finals in Miami.

Raducanu is 3-2 lifetime at the Caja Magica, with one of those three victories coming against her next opponent Marta Kostyuk, back in 2022. The pair are 1-1 head-to-head, with Kostyuk claiming their first meeting on hard courts in 2021.

The 22-year-old Raducanu has been enjoying her time in Madrid – a city she considers to be one of her favourite in Europe. She was seen kicking around a football during her warm-up for her opening match, and she joked that her footy skills remain a work in progress given she had to fish the ball out of the water once or twice.

“I love the support I get here in Madrid, I think the people and the energy the crowd is really into it,” she added.

“I felt great support everywhere I’ve gone around the site and it’s really nice. I love Madrid as a city too, it’s probably one of my favourite in Europe. So to be here is really cool.

“It’s just the challenge with the altitude, it is difficult and I think as I develop, I think my starting the point can become a better weapon, especially the serve. I think I return pretty well so just kind of making that strength even stronger as well.”