British tennis star Emma Raducanu says she sometimes wishes she had not won US Open
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Emma Raducanu is currently without a coach after splitting with Sebastian Sachs.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said she sometimes wishes she had not won the Grand Slam due to the pressure that came with the success and instant fame.
The then 18-year-old qualifier surged out of nowhere to win the 2021 title in style, without dropping a single set during the nine matches she played before the final, but could not follow up on that success due to recurrent injuries.
“That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment,” Raducanu told London’s The Sunday Times.
“Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other. I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself, I wish I’d never won the US Open.”
The win came with praise but also exposed the Canadian-born British player, who now counts Nike, Porsche, Vodafone and Dior among her sponsors, to a previously unknown world, often ruthless and paved with expectations.
“I had to mature very quickly. When I won, I was extremely naive,” Raducanu said.
“What I have realised in the past two years, the tour and everything that comes with it, it’s not a very nice, trusting and safe space. You have to be on guard because there are a lot of sharks out there.
“I think people in the industry, especially with me because I was 19, now 20, they see me as a piggy bank.
“It has been difficult to navigate. I have been burnt a few times. I have learnt to keep your circle as small as possible.”
She missed the recent French Open and will be absent from Wimbledon too as she recovers from surgery on her wrists and ankle.
“The pain escalated last summer after Wimbledon,” she said. “I started with a new coach and I was really motivated to get going.
“We were overtraining... and I carried on even through pain because I didn’t want to be perceived as weak.”
Raducanu, once ranked a career-high world No. 10 but now at No. 130, is currently without a coach after splitting with German Sebastian Sachs. She is seeking her sixth coach in two years. REUTERS, AFP
