Emma Raducanu responds when asked if she still enjoys tennis after her difficult start to 2026
Emma Raducanu has enjoyed a difficult first half of the season, for a multitude of reasons, ahead of her appearance at her home tournament, Queen’s.
The British star has already worked with three different coaches and an unfortunate virus ruled her out of several tournaments between the Miami Open and the Italian Open.
The star starts her grass court swing at Queen’s as the World No. 46, having not tasted victory since Indian Wells in March.
Her current form has caused a difficult relationship with tennis over recent months, and the star has opened up about her lack of motivation.
Asked if she still enjoys tennis after her difficult start to the 2026 season, Raducanu issued a frank response about her current relationship with the sport.
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“I don’t think you need to enjoy it all the time,” she said during an interview with BBC Sport. “I think it’s like any job, you don’t wake up everyday and feel like every day is a great one. I think doing your best with what you have on the day is extremely important.
“If you have 10%, maximising it and making it the best 10% is really important. Some days you’ll wake up and it’ll be 100%. Then you give 100% and you feel amazing. It’s just about being disciplined more than motivation.”
Raducanu has begun working with Andrew Richardson again, the British coach who worked with her during her incredible run to the 2021 US Open title.
Asked about their current working relationship, Raducanu said: “I think we just get on really well. He’s known me since I was young, I trust him. I believe in him and he believes in me.
“We’ve just been getting our heads down and working and that’s all we can do – and having fun along the way. The goals are to maximise each day. To take care of what I can take care of and that’s what I’ve been doing. He’s not results or outcome oriented.
“He just brings me back to the process and brings me back to what I’m doing day to day. He finds that is the most important thing and that’s what I’ve been doing. When the results show, he won’t be too high or too low either way.”
Raducanu will begin her Queen’s campaign against Anna Blinkova in the singles, in what will be a first time match-up, and she will also rekindle her doubles partnership with Katie Boulter.
Boulter and Raducanu, who have been dubbed ‘Boultercanu’, will play Storm Hunter and Zhang Shuai in the first round of the London tournament.
The British star is yet to confirm another grass court tournament between Queen’s and Wimbledon, although there is a chance she could play the Berlin Open the week after Queen’s.
