Emma Raducanu news: Pundit says US Open champion has lost her aura and ‘everyone wants to beat her’

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Emma Raducanu disappointed

Emma Raducanu’s Miami Open exit will “hurt big time”, according to Daniela Hantuchova with the tennis pundit saying she no longer enjoys the locker room sense of invincibility she had after winning the US Open.

The British No 1 has not made a good start to the season as she has failed to put together a decent run of results, losing early at the Sydney International, the Australian Open, the Abierto Zapopan, Indian Wells and now Miami.

Her defeat to Katerina Siniakova in Florida will be a tough pill to swallow as she was a break up in both the second and third sets. After building a 5-4 lead in the decider, Raducanu came out to serve for the match, but the Czech broke back as she won the final four games to book her place in the second round.

Hantuchova explained why it is an uphill battle for Raducanu with everyone out to get a win over her.

“That was a tough one for Emma. I think it is going to hurt big time because of the chances she had,” the Amazon Prime analyst said.

“She was the better player for most of it. Siniakova is a great fighter and she showed why she has won all the big titles in doubles – she is not afraid of the big names.

“But the thing is now with Emma, everyone wants to beat her. Everyone is trying to figure out how to play against her. All the locker room respect she had after the US Open is now kind of going away which is a shame.

“It is going to be important now for Emma to regroup, rethink what she has to change and get out there on the practice court. There is no other way around it. Just keep putting the hard work in.”

Raducanu has struggled with illness and injury the past few months as she battled Covid in December while she had problems with blisters and her hip since the start of the year.

However, she has been putting in the hard yards in training, but it is yet to show on the court.

“At that age, you want to be fit, you want to show everyone that you are out there, no matter how long it takes,” Hantuchova added. “It was humid and it was not easy out there.

“But this is where you have to be tough if you want to win matches like this, if you want to win tournaments like this. And I believe Emma has the level. She just has to find a way to get it out of her.”

Daniela Hantuchova Emma Raducanu

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