Emma Raducanu speaks out on her Australian Open Nike skirt

Emma Raducanu wore a Nike skirt inspired by Aboriginal art work and drank coconut juice as she looked at home at the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam of the year always introduces new fashions and the British No.1 smashed it in a colourful skirt and green top. The former US Open champion certainly looked better than Frances Tiafoe in matching shirt and shorts.

Raducanu said: “I have no input no – they say: ‘You’re wearing’ this but yeah I really like it. It’s quite colourful. I like exploring. Normally I’m quite plain and simple, so I’m venturing out of my comfort zone a little bit today. I’ve heard about what Frances Tiafoe is wearing but I’ve not seen it yet.”

After beating German Tamara Korpatsch to set up a glamorous second-round clash with Coco Gauff, the Kent star rehydrated with a coconut drink during her post-match press conference. “It is so good,” she said. “I used to hate coconuts actually until the Australian Open last year, and then I had it and it’s a game changer. I only drink it at the Australian Open. It is a once-a-year situation.”

The Brit brushed off any injury worries to defeat Korpatsch 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Australian Open. Raducanu’s preparations for the tournament had been rocked when she suffered an ankle injury at the ASB Classic in Auckland but she showed little signs of problems on the opening day in Melbourne.

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Ahead of the tournament, Raducanu heaped praise on Sebastian Sachs and her team for getting her in condition to play. She said: “I didn’t have that solid set-up and the team that I really fully trusted. So for me this year, now I feel like I have definitely got that more so, and I don’t probably need to consult as wide as much.

“I think that we’ve been doing some great work. He’s (Sachs) very objective. He’s really experienced, actually. I just love the way that we’re working together and I really hope it lasts.” Gauff, meanwhile, also made light work of her first-round opponent, defeating Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 6-4.

The American has already began the mind games ahead of their blockbuster showdown by insisting that Raducanu is under more pressure in her career. Speaking at her straight-sets win, Gauff said: “I talk to her pretty much at all the tournaments. I didn’t really know her that well in juniors, but I got to talk to her more on tour now.

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“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. And especially I feel like being from the UK, being like 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. Serena is retired now, but she was always the American that people looked to.

“Being an American, all the spotlight isn’t on you all the time. We have a great field with Jessica Pegula, Maddie Keys, Shelby Rogers, Amanda. There’s always, I guess, for American fans someone to look to. Whereas I feel like 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.

“It’s definitely a difference, but I can’t relate but also at the same time it’s not just me who has to handle the pressure. In American tennis you have other people that you kind of share it with. I think that’s also what makes American tennis really strong in the women’s game because we’re all sharing the pressure with each other.

“I can’t really understand as much as I can, but I definitely can relate to bursting onto the scene and dealing with some pressure but I don’t think to that level.”