Emma Raducanu says she has become more comfortable in her skin and learned how to enjoy her career journey rather than fixating on results as she prepares to face her friend Amanda Anisimova for a place in the third round of the Australian Open.

“I think I’m a lot more comfortable with myself, which helps,” said Raducanu. “I feel like I’m not necessarily trying to prove anything. I’m just doing it for myself. I feel like now I’ve come to the realisation that I just enjoy the process of what I’m doing.

“I enjoy waking up in the morning and going to practice, doing all my sessions and feeling really satisfied with the work that I put in, or any challenges that I overcome that day, and taking it and moving on for the next day and just keep going and keeping it pretty level as well. I think maybe in the past I’ve been very high and so very down if I’ve lost, but I think now I’m not necessarily just playing for the result.”

On Tuesday Raducanu showed her grit as she reached the second round with a tough 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) win over the 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova despite struggling with her second serve throughout the match and finishing with 15 double faults. The victory set up a high-profile second round match with Anisimova, who eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win over María Lourdes Carlé.

Over the past few years, Anisimova and Raducanu have become friends on the tour and they share a close mutual friend in the Australian player Priscilla Hon. “Usually when we’re hanging out, we’re not talking about tennis,” said Raducanu.

“I think it’s good to keep it that way. I think we’re going to be playing each other many more times in the future. This is the first time. And it’s gonna be a good match. I think she’s a tough opponent. She took some time out, obviously, off the tour, for sort of mental health reasons and just to find herself again.”

While they may not discuss tennis together, their careers certainly have some similarities. Anisimova was also a teenage prodigy, and reached the semi-finals of the 2019 French Open aged 17. After those early highs, though, she took an eight-month mental health break from the sport before returning at the beginning of last year.

“I think that performing well at a young age definitely comes with its perks and also some challenges,” said Anisimova. “I feel like you learn a lot of things along the way. There are a lot of lessons that I had to learn. You grow up very quickly, but at the same time I feel like that really prepares you for your career. We both have so much ahead of us.

“I feel like, when I play these slams, I handle the nerves better because I’ve been on so many big stages at a young age. I wouldn’t trade all the memories I had from when I was younger.”

Since coming back to the daily grind of the tour, Anisimov has risen from No 442 at the Australian Open last year to her current ranking of 35. As one of the cleanest balls trikers on the tour, she will be extremely dangerous on Thursday.

“We kind of coincidentally took time off at the same time, me for my surgeries, but having that time away does make you realise your hunger for the sport,” said Raducanu. “I would say she came back and she did great things last year, so she’s an incredibly dangerous opponent.

“Tennis is obviously very challenging. It’s not easy. You play match after match. If you gave me the option of what to do in the morning, I would [still] wake up and choose to do the processes and the training that I’m doing. So, yeah, I think it’s a healthy way to look at it.”