Emma Raducanu’s unusual US Open preparation could be a blessing in disguise, says former British No 1
Emma Raducanu’s decision to play only one tournament before the US Open has raised a lot of questions, but Laura Robson believes it could be the catalyst to a good run at Flushing Meadows as she will be “fresh” while everyone else will be “a bit shattered”.
2021 US Open winner Raducanu has not played competitive tennis since the beginning of August when she reached the quarter-final of the Citi DC Open in Washington.
Her ranking was not good enough for direct entries into main draws at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open. She was also overlooked for wildcards and then opted to skip qualifying for the Cincy WTA 1000 event.
Raducanu’s name was also absent from this week’s Monterrey Open and Tennis in the Land tournaments, meaning she will head to Flushing Meadows with only three matches on hard courts under her belt with those matches her only outings since Wimbledon as she also skipped the Olympics.
It is not an approach that too many top players have followed, but former British No 1 Robson says it could work in the 21-year-old’s favour as she will be well-rested compared to most of her rivals.
“She’s not a player who needs a huge amount of matches going into a big event,” she told the PA news agency.
“I think we’ve seen that before, where she might play the week before, just to get some fine-tuning done, but she really enjoys the training block and plays her best tennis when she’s coming off a really strong couple of weeks of practice.
“So, it’s a really good sign that, yes, she’s had a few matches and has some confidence and some wins under her belt, but also has the chance to get to New York feeling as fresh as possible, whereas everyone else is probably feeling a bit shattered already.”
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Raducanu currently sits at No 72 in the WTA Rankings, good enough for a direct entry into the main draw of the US Open, and there is good news for her as she doesn’t have any points to defend after missing last year’s tournament.
She is 40 places below British No 1 Katie Boulter, who has enjoyed an incredible 2024 campaign as she has won two titles – the San Diego Open in February and the Nottingham Open in June.
Boulter’s best performance at the US Open came last year when she reached the third round and Robson sees no reason why she can’t enjoy an extended run at Flushing Meadows.
“Well, why not? She wouldn’t be playing unless she believed that as well,” Robson added.
“She absolutely wants to be the best, and has put in so much hard work over the last two years to see that rise in her ranking.
“Every tournament, it feels like there’s a surprise quarter-finalist or semi-finalist.
“I think that just shows the depth in the game at the moment, but also the fact that you know anything can happen if you’re in the best possible position, if you’ve done the preparation and everything else to get yourself there, then it’s absolutely open.
“So just knowing that she believes then sure, why not?”