Emma Raducanu makes revealing comment about wanting to ‘play less’ in 2026
Emma Raducanu has revealed she is in a “pretty good place” as she reflected on her 2025 campaign and looked ahead to next year.
The 23-year-old is currently the world No 29, which is her highest ranking position since the points from her 2021 US Open title win dropped in September 2022.
Raducanu was ranked 60th as recently as March 16 this year, but she kickstarted her season with her run to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open that month and finished the year with a 28-22 record.
The Brit’s other standout results were reaching the semi-finals at the WTA 500 tournament in Washington in July and the last 16 at the Italian Open in May.
In an interview on the BBC Today Programme, Raducanu declared that she was feeling “relaxed” ahead of the 2026 season.
“I feel quite content with how things are going on and off the court. I’m in a pretty good place,” said the former world No 10.
“I just think, despite any challenges I have been facing with the foot or the health at the end of the season, I feel in a good place, and I’m building back in the gym, to start with.
“And I’m feeling pretty relaxed ahead of next year, which is a good place to be. And I’m just proud of the season that I put in this year and the progress I have made.”
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Asked what helped her be healthy and play week in week out in 2025, Raducanu said: “I think actually doing it and putting yourself in a position to do it rather than necessarily having in your head, I’m gonna go home — that helped.
“I would say that next year, I hope to play less than I did this year. But I think also just incorporating into my warm-ups, fitness, so it’s not necessarily just my fitness sessions are like separate.
“You just have to try and drip feed as much as you can in for the overall health of your body, little and often, I think is the biggest thing that’s helped.
“And most of all, I think I found a lot more peace with myself and I’m a lot happier with how I’m approaching my tennis and how I’m approaching the team that I have and just what I’m doing and the environment that I have.
“I think that’s the most special thing because it takes so much work and so many days to get to where we want to be. And just enjoying each day and being able to look at it in a pretty healthy perspective is so important.”
Raducanu also expressed her gratitude at being able to spend Christmas at home with her family in England this year.
“It’s the first Christmas that I will be in the UK since Covid, so that is extremely exciting for me, because the calendar starts a week later, which I’m very grateful for,” Raducanu said.
“That means I will be able to be with my family for Christmas for the first time in a while, so that’s really special. But of course the tour is incredibly demanding, and then once we are off, we’re off for a long time. So just make the most out of the time in the UK while I can.”
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