What does Raducanu need to do to beat Swiatek?

While Iga Swiatek has enjoyed plenty of success on other hard courts, the Australian Open is where she remains ripe to be on the end of an upset.
On Saturday, Emma Raducanu is planning to be the one who causes it in this year’s third round.

British number two Raducanu goes toe-to-toe with the five-time major champion on Rod Laver Arena at 00:30 GMT.

“I wouldn’t be afraid to say that this could be a big upset because Raducanu loves the spotlight,” former world number five Daniela Hantuchova told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Raducanu, though, has lost all three of their previous matches.

So how can the world number 61 upset the odds against the Polish second seed at Melbourne Park?

Improve her service game
The first key factor will be Raducanu’s physical state.

The 22-year-old did not play a warm-up tournament before the opening Grand Slam of the season after suffering a back spasm when she bent down to tie a shoelace.

During her second-round match against Amanda Anisimova, Raducanu twice needed treatment on the area and planned to “take it easy” in practice on Friday.

“I’ve had issues with it in the last month, but I have a little bit of time before the next match so I hope to get it right,” said the 2021 US Open champion.

Raducanu needed to stretch out her back during service games against Anisimova and has been broken 11 times in her first two matches at Melbourne Park.

The troubles with her serve can also be put down to a lack of practice time – because of the back issue – on a recently remodelled motion.

If Raducanu is unable to regularly hold serve against Swiatek, it would likely have severe repercussions.

The 23-year-old has dropped serve just twice so far – both in her opening 6-3 6-4 win over Czech opponent Katerina Siniakova.