Emma Raducanu ‘part-time tennis player’ jibes set to be tested at US Open
If criticism is a motivating factor for Emma Raducanu, she will stun the tennis world once again at the 2024 US Open.
The tennis world has been sailing along without Raducanu over the last few weeks, with WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati not featuring the player who set the tennis world alight as she won her maiden Grand Slam title almost three years ago.
That iconic title triumph propelled Raducanu to global superstardom and a change of life that took time to adjust to.
It could be argued that Raducanu has only just started to appreciate how to handle the hype that built around her after she signed a host of lucrative sponsorship deals and was expected to live up to her status as one of the new stars of the game.
Reality bit Raducanu hard as she tried to build on her US Open win and even though results did not flow as she would have wanted on the court, interest in this compelling young woman has barely waned.
Sports websites around the world continue to run stories on Raducanu as the analysts confirm the audience still wants to read about her, but the mood has turned negative once again in recent weeks as Raducanu failed to play in the two major US Open warm-up events and opted for a quiet build-up to her New York assignment by preparing on hard courts in her native Britain.
After pulling out of qualifying for the French Open and the WTA 1000 event in Toronto, the snipes that Raducanu doesn’t want to play in tournaments unless she gains direct entry via her rankings or is handed a wildcard have been flying on social media.
Yet Raducanu stated earlier this summer that she will not be swayed into taking her career in a direction that may not benefit her in the long run, as she is determined to do things her own way.
“I’m going to do things on my own time,” said Raducanu last month. “I’m in no rush to do anything and everything I am doing and playing for now is for myself.
“Whether that’s tournament scheduling, whether that’s how much time I take off to train compared to compete, I think I’m just way more focused on my own lane and less susceptible to outside opinions or views.
“I’m just enjoying it, just doing everything for myself and really just being independent out here.”
Raducanu’s approach has been working as she rose from a ranking outside of the top 200 ahead of the grass court season and up to her current ranking of No 71, which was enough to earn her direct entry into the US Open main draw.
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Despite that progress, Raducanu has been criticised for taking time away from tennis ahead of the US Open and former British No 1 Tim Henman told Tennis365 those snipes are misplaced.
“There is almost a borderline obsession about different elements of her game and where she is going wrong,” Sky Sports Tennis analyst Henman told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.
“She hasn’t played in Canada and Cincinnati over the last few weeks… big deal!
“It’s two tournaments out of 52 weeks, she has played plenty of tournaments this year and she is top 50 in the WTA Race.
“She is continuing to build and get fitter, stronger and faster. Her game is fantastic. She will be top 20 or top 30 before long, so we need to stop this level of scrutiny.”
Henman offers a view from a tennis perspective that may not always be applied to Raducanu, as her career has followed different rules compared to others in her sport since day one.
Raducanu is a money-making machine for her management team, a driver of hits for showbiz and sporting websites and it would be easy to forget that amid the complex world she operates in, tennis needs to be fitted into the mix.
An early defeat at the US Open would give Raducanu some issues as her ranking would not be high enough for her to enter major WTA Tour events unless she is given a wildcard.
Those seem to have been drying up in recent months, so she needs to get back into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings with a strong performance at the US Open.
Her latest Instagram posts confirm she has arrived in New York for her first US Open since 2022 and only the third appearance at the tournament in her entire career, so we are about to find out if her build-up plan for this major will pay off.
As always, Raducanu has plenty of pressure on her shoulders and that should inspire her to be at her best when it matters most once again.
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