Emma Raducanu could ‘walk away from tennis’ like another British starlet

As the 1980s dawned, the notoriously intrusive British media were getting very excited about a bright young star who captured plenty of headlines.

Teenager Annabel Croft was the darling of the tabloid press as she emerged through the junior ranks impressively and started a rapid rise up the WTA Rankings.

The hype machine started to roll around her and by the time she struck her first balls as a professional, expectations were already at a lofty level.

Croft may have had the talent to go all the way and win Grand Slam titles, but life on the tennis tour proved to be a challenge she did not want to embrace and at the age of 21, she retired as a professional player.

“I just woke up one day and decided ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ It was as simple as that,” said Croft in an interview with Tennis365.

“Tennis had been my life since I was really young and the only thing I’d ever done was wake up and get into a tracksuit. I needed to put on normal clothes in the mornings and not worry about my tennis.

“I was really unhappy. I wasn’t enjoying tennis at all. I remember my mum saying to me: ‘Your heart’s not in this anymore, is it?’ That was a relief.”

Croft remains a prominent voice in tennis almost 30 years since she called time on her career as a player, with her passion for the sport and excellence as a broadcaster shining through in her numerous TV and radio roles.

Yet she would be the first to confirm that loving tennis and loving being a tennis player are two very different stories.

Life on the road involves long hours in hotel rooms alone, enduring battles with injury problems and the constant pressure to live up to your billing and deliver to an audience that doesn’t care about the problems you may be going through.

Roll the clock forward three decades and Croft’s story has so many similarities to that of Emma Raducanu.

While Raducanu’s breakthrough in tennis was so much more dramatic as she won the 2021 US Open to announce her arrival to the world, the tale since has been laced with negativity and anguish.

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Raducanu has been forced to deal with stalkers threatening her safety, online trolls constantly battering her and a negativity that some of her critics seem to enjoy delivering whenever her name is mentioned.

With plenty of money in her bank account after her instant tennis success story, life away from tennis may be a whole lot easier for Raducanu, but respected tennis broadcaster Marcus Buckland hopes that is not the end game of this brief and enchanting sporting story.

“I think it’s really tough for her and I hope she doesn’t come to the conclusion that she doesn’t need tennis,” Buckland told Tennis365.

“Of course, if she gave up tennis tomorrow, she has earned enough from the sport not to worry about money and she could pursue other areas she is interested in. She has mentioned a banking career.

“One of my best friends in tennis is Annabel Croft and she retired from tennis at an even younger age than Raducanu at 21. She had a wonderful junior career, she got into the top 20 on the main tour and she decided the lifestyle just did not suit her.

“She said to me that playing tennis felt like having a very public argument in the office every day and she has never regretted walking away from the sport.

“So it’s perfectly possible that Raducanu could do the same, but you are retired for a very long time.”

Raducanu is currently sitting just outside the top 50 of the WTA Rankings and you wonder whether he appetite to push for more Grand Slam glory will wane if it becomes evident over the course of 2025 that either her body or her desire is not at the level required to compete at the top, she may decide her previously mentioned desire to study at Cambridge University offers her a more enjoyable life.

Buckland suggests an early retirement could be avoided for Raducanu if her enduring search for a long-term coach finally ends at some point this year.

Nick Cavaday was the latest coach to part ways with Raducanu after the Australian Open in January and her next coaching appointment may be something of a ‘make or break’ decision as she needs to find a winning formula quickly.

“What Raducanu needs to do is find a coach she can have a meaningful relationship with for an extended period of time, at least a couple of years,” added Buckland.

“She needs to find that consistency on court and build some momentum. I think the key for her is to establish a strong team off the court to give her the strength to deal with everything else that comes her way.

“There is a lot of mental scarring from everything that has happened to her since she won the US Open.

“It’s been such a roller-coaster ride, but she has a wonderful game.  She can mix it with the best, but does she really believe that?

“Until she starts getting some big wins against the top players, those doubts are going to persist and that’s why she might start to ask why she is putting herself through this.”

Tennis needs shining stars like Raducanu to promote the message of the WTA Tour and the sport needs to hope she retains the desire to stay in the game for long enough to realise all of her potential.

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