It is back to the drawing board for Emma Raducanu after her embarrassing first-round defeat at the US Open. Raducanu crashed out of the tournament, losing by two sets to one, to Sofia Kenin, a player ranked outside the top 50. A tearful Raducanu admitted after the match that her preparation for the tournament was wrong and that she didn’t played enough matches in the run-up to the Grand Slam. The bigger mystery is how quickly Raducanu’s tennis career is unravelling, increasingly dogged by questions and controversy. Just three years ago – after her surprise triumph in the US Open took the tennis world by storm – she was widely predicted to dominate the game for the foreseeable future. It all seems so long ago. Since then, she has not won a single tennis match at the US Open: she fell to defeat in the first-round in 2022, and missed last year’s tournament as she recovered from wrist and ankle surgery. This year, she fell at the first hurdle.
Raducanu admitted she was ‘outplayed’
Raducanu admitted she was ‘outplayed’ in the match. It was certainly an agonising watch, with plenty of unforced errors. She looked dejected in her post-match news conference, sobbing openly, and talking of going back to the ‘drawing board’.
When asked to describe her state of mind, Raducanu said: ‘I feel down…I feel, I feel sad. Obviously this is a tournament I really want to do well in’. A heart-breaking admission from a young woman who appears to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her press conference demeanour can only fuel renewed questions about what might be going on behind the scenes.
Raducanu was quick to say that she would learn from her defeat and use it as fuel for the future. ‘I would have preferred to probably play a little more before coming into the US Open’, she said. ‘I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything is automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it and manage my schedule slightly differently.’
This statement is somewhat at odds with her comments ahead of the US Open, when she appeared to be happy with the strategy of playing fewer matches: ‘I have always done things a little bit differently. I mix and match. I don’t think I will ever be the player who’s close to 30 events a year. I think that’s not my style – it never has been.’ It is confusing, to say the least.
Her schedule – or, to be more precise, her lack of matches – is certainly a topic of controversy. Raducanu has played just one tournament since Wimbledon and skipped the Olympics to focus on the US Open. Her opening match at Flushing Meadows was her first competitive game since 2 August. It is an approach that has prompted bewilderment in tennis circles, from pundits to fans. What is clear is that the lack of playing time has certainly backfired big time, prompting fresh questions about why Raducanu is not playing as often as others. Whose decision was it to restrict her appearances? Raducanu was keen not to point any fingers and explained that the decision was ‘collective’. Who is in this collective isn’t clear, nor is it obvious whose voice carries the most sway. The mystery deepens. Raducanu has in the past admitted to being stubborn and more open than most to taking risks. She famously parted company with her coach straight after the US Open triumph in 2021. Her career has not been helped by recurring injuries. The spotlight has been on her since that fairy tale triumph in 2021. The pressure is relentless.
Even so, she doesn’t always help herself. She made unwelcome headlines recently for describing Andy Murray’s career as ‘old news’ and claimed the sport has already ‘moved on’ from his era of British tennis. Why say this? Whatever her intentions, she came across as arrogant and just a little rude or disrespectful. Could it be that Raducanu’s early Grand Slam triumph, together with the widespread adulation and multiple commercial endorsements, have gone to her head? She certainly comes across as having lost her way. Raducanu needs to get back to the basics and focus anew on her love of tennis, the game that has given her so much. She might start to do that by playing more regularly.
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