Emma Raducanu makes confession about having friends in tennis
Emma Raducanu admits she doesn’t have too many friends on the WTA Tour and she explained there is a good reason why it is “very difficult to really open up” to fellow players.
The 22-year-old made her top-level debut at the age of 18 in 2021, with her first breakthrough coming at Wimbledon when she reached the fourth round on her main draw debut.
The teenager then shot to fame a few months later when she became the first qualifier – man or woman – to win a Grand Slam singles title as she won 10 matches in a row to lift the US Open trophy.
Raducanu has had several ups and downs since then as she struggled with injuries and form, but she is making her way back up the WTA Rankings again as she currently sits at No 46 after spending several months outside of the top 100 in 2023/2024.
After several years full-time on the tour, she has formed bonds with a few players, including fellow Brit Katie Boulter and former world No 2 Paula Badosa, but they will all be the first to admit that the friendships are not too close.
Raducanu admits there is a reason why she is uneasy about opening up to her rivals.
When asked if she would like to get to know more players on the WTA Tour, the world No 46 replied: “I don’t know. I think when we’re on the tour, it’s very difficult to really open up with other players that you’re competing against. I think for me I have a few friends on the tour, but it does add another dimension when you play them.
“I have really good friends at home that I can trust and speak to, but other than that, you know, I don’t think that, yeah, this is – for me, I just find it harder to compete against a person I’m friends with.”
The 2021 US Open is currently in action at the Washington DC Open and up next is a first-ever career meeting with fellow Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka.
Former world No 1 Osaka is also making her way back to the top after taking time out from the game as she became a mother in July 2023.
Before going on maternity leave, Osaka also struggled with her form.
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Asked about similarities in their rise to the top and current performances, Raducanu said: “I think, you know, different because, again, when I won my US Open, I came from school, I was no one, I was 200 in the world, and Naomi had already won Indian Wells.
“She was already a known figure on the tour, and people kind of expected, okay, like, she’s going to start doing well and start winning Slams.
“Whereas I think when I won, it was completely out of nowhere. It means that I didn’t quite build the foundations she had when she won her Grand Slams, which I think is why she was able to repeat and win another three, you know, back-to-back US Open and Australia.
“She, yeah, I think she was an established, like, pro tour player, whereas I didn’t necessarily feel that way. It’s probably why I had a lot more dips afterwards.
“But yeah, it’s good to see the similarities now. I think we have both kind of started doing better and started enjoying the process more and enjoying developing. Yeah, I think it’s nice that after, you know, having such big highs and then some lows to both be working towards, you know, going up again.”
But Raducanu is certainly heading in the right direction following several lows in recent years and one big reason for that is her “more relaxed” approach to life on and off court.
“I still think I’m building it [a solid foundation], but I feel positive because I’m actually building it in a consistent way,” she said. “And I feel like, okay, the way I’m going, like, it’s going towards having – you’re never really fully complete but a more complete foundation, and I’ll be more solid and have a higher base level, so I think I’m working towards that now.
“I think I’m just doing it in a better way. I’m a lot more content, more relaxed. I’m less kind of volatile, I guess, in general. I’m working in a really good way and just excited to kind of keep this and try and win as many days as I can.”
