Emma Raducanu’s controversial decisions paying off after US Open rankings boost
Emma Raducanu has come under fire for a series of controversial decisions over the last few weeks, but her results suggest she has made all the right calls. Confirmation that Raducanu has secured a direct entry to next month’s US Open vindicates two of her more contentious calls in recent weeks, namely skipping French Open qualifying and opting against playing at the Olympic Games.
Both decisions were greeted with scepticism by critics, but her return to the top 100 of the WTA Rankings after her fine run on grass courts is evidence that she is making the right decisions for her career and not following a narrative others want to write for her. Raducanu needed a wild card to enter Wimbledon this month, but her impressive performances on grass courts confirmed she is on her way back to the top of the game.
A run to the semi-final of the Nottingham Open was backed up by impressive wins against Sloane Stephens and Jessica Pegula on her way to the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 tournament in Eastbourne. The win against against Pegula was her first against a player ranked in the top ten and she backed that up with a thrilling victory against No 9 seed Maria Sakarri at Wimbledon.
Lulu Sun ended her run at the All England Club in the fourth round, but the aggressive tennis Raducanu played in front of her home fans revived memories of her US Open heroics three years ago. The 2021 US Open champion would have been a strong contender to receive a wildcard into the final Grand Slam of 2024 as a recent former winner in New York if she had missed the main draw cut, yet that obstacle has been removed as the official entry list confirmed the 21-year-old British star has made the cut following her recent surge up the WTA Rankings.
With no ranking points to defend in the second half of 2024, she now has a huge opportunity to surge up the WTA Rankings and her progress over the last few weeks is evidence of how quickly she should now rise. Raducanu was also criticized for her decision to skip the Olympic Games in favour of playing in a WTA Tour event in Washington, where she will look to add more ranking points.
Yet former British No 1 Johanna Konta has backed Raducanu for making bold decisions in her career, with his success on grass courts confirming she is making the right calls.
Citing Raducanu’s decision to miss the French Open and the Olympics, for which she has also received criticism, Konta said: “I think this is where Emma’s really good and very mature.
“She has a thought, she has a direction in mind, and she goes for it and she makes the decision, and I think that’s a very mature approach for a young player. “And the same thing with her coaching team. I wish I did that more where I felt like a coaching situation wasn’t working, I didn’t wait for it to run its course because of how I thought the media would start speaking about it. “I really admire her for her conviction in how she goes about deciding things for her career.
“She will start winning these matches more and more and I think that’s where your deep-rooted confidence in you as a competitor and you as a player and what you can do out there, how you can problem solve, really comes from. “The more she can be here, I think the more resilient a player it will make her and ultimately I think it will be what makes her a really, really great tennis player.”
Raducanu would only need to win a handful of matches in the upcoming US hardcourt swing to get back into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings, with her return to the top end of the women’s game certain to be welcomed by all in the sport.
