Why Emma Raducanu would be ‘hunted’ if she played in lower ranked event

Emma Raducanu would be ‘hunted’ if she played in lower-ranked events, according to former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tamira Paszek.

Raducanu has come under fire in recent months for stepping away from competing in qualifying competitions for big tournaments, after admitting she may have made mistakes with her scheduling decisions since her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon in July.

“I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open,” said Raducanu after her first round defeat in the final Grand Slam of 2024.

“I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything’s automatic.

“I can learn from it. And, you know, manage my schedule slightly differently.

“It wasn’t just me. It was more of like a collective call and that’s what happened, and I can’t really change it.”

The suggestion that Raducanu’s team of advisers may have played a role in her decision not to play in qualifying at the French Open and WTA 1000 event in Toronto inspired reports in the UK that her absence from the tour was due to a decision that her lucrative sponsors may be impressed by one of their highest paid ambassadors playing, and possibly losing, against low ranked players in qualifying.

Yet there are always two sides to every story and in the opinion of former world No 26 Paszek, Raducanu needs to be wise when selecting which tournaments she enters.

Many have urged the 2021 US Open champion to play in lower-ranked events in a bid to boost her ranking, but Paszek believes that plan could be flawed.

“It’s easy to say she should play this tournament just to get points or matches, but if she played at a lower level, she would be hunted,” said 2011 and 2012 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Paszek, speaking exclusively to Tennis365 at the ITF World Tennis Tour event in Shrewsbury.

“I have felt this. I had some success in my career and now I am playing smaller events and it is tough. People see you are a target and that is a tough challenge.

“So saying she should just play lower-ranking events is not always so easy and I understand how it has been difficult for her.

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“When you have experienced success like that and winning a Grand Slam, it’s always going to be tough.

“She won the US Open literally out of nowhere and you feel like the support around her after that had to be right.

“There were a lot of changes after that in her coaching team. I get it, I have been through a lot of coaching changes. Sometimes it’s financially related, sometimes it’s personal. People change, situations change.

“But when you have someone who has helped you to such massive success, money is not an issue at that moment.

“I feel that if you are able to stick with something you are used to, it grounds you a little bit. If you have lots of new voices, it confuses you a little bit and then the injuries are added in and in the end, your identity of how you play tennis is lost.

“I had this. The input of so many voices came to me and in the end, I was so confused. Who am I? What kind of player should I be?”

Paszek believes any player would have struggled to cope with the kind of rapid rise Raducanu lived through after her US Open win, as she reflects on the path she was taking back in 2021, before she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and announced herself on the world stage.

“I remember seeing her on an entry list for a 25k event in Portugal the week after Wimbledon,” added Paszek.

“Then everything changes for her and a few months later she wins the US Open. It was an amazing story, but it is hard to keep that going when you have had such a quick rise.”

Raducanu’s rise back into the top 60 of the WTA Rankings ensures she will get entry to some significant tournaments at the start of 2025, but she may need to make a call on playing lower-ranking tournaments if she slides down the rankings due to ongoing injuries or poor results.

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