Emma Raducanu revealed her 11am start was too early to eat her favourite pre-match meal of salmon at the Australian Open.
The British No.2 beat No.26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 7-6 in the first match of the day on Court 3.
But she admitted: “It’s a very early wake-up. I think for me, I struggle to eat when I open my eyes first thing. I actually was pretty light this morning. I just had some berries and a coffee before I practiced.
“After practice, I just had toast, like plain toast with honey and banana. Pure carb-loading. I couldn’t stomach some rice and salmon. I’ll be sure after this to get my salmon intake for the day.”
Frances Tiafoe revealed on Monday he had been ill after eating rice and chicken before his 11am start before winning in five sets against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech. “It’s a tough time,” said the American.
“We played for four hours. All of lunch we are playing through it. We ate at 10am. I mean, playing 11am, three out of five, wasn’t too happy about that, to be honest with you. I feel like it’s really tough to prepare.
“I ate just rice and chicken. Brought from last night. I didn’t really know if the restaurant was going to be open. I threw up all electrolytes and water. Wasn’t like food in the tank was the issue.
“Neither was the heat, really. The heat is a little different here than what everyone is accustomed to. Look, man, things happen. It’s been funny all the things I’ve been getting tagged with since then.
“It’s part of game, man. Got to be ready for all things, got to be willing to lay it all out there. My post-match recovery? Horrible. It’s been terrible.”
Belgium
