Emma Raducanu makes Wimbledon title declaration and shares retirement thoughts

Emma Raducanu has suggested that she will be able to retire happily if she wins Wimbledon at least once during her career. The 21-year-old, who turned down the opportunity to represent Team GB at the Olympics, is finding form again after a tough few years since her US Open triumph. Raducanu has successfully returned to the world’s top 100 following her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon earlier this year. Last week, she reached the quarter-finals of the Citi Open where she was knocked out by eventual champion Paula Badosa after choosing not to compete at the Olympics.

The one-time Grand Slam winner recently prioritized Wimbledon over the French Open, which she skipped to avoid switching to clay courts before moving back to grass. It seems clear that Raducanu is determined to achieve SW19 glory in the near future, telling Marie Claire that winning Wimbledon is her single greatest ambition. “Long term, I want to win Wimbledon, that’s my number one goal,” she said. “But in the short term, I just want to keep staying healthy and improving my skills, working on the actual development of them rather than any immediate results. That’s my priority right now.”

Raducanu still has many years ahead of her at the age of 21, with the Brit very much in the infancy of her career. However, she believes there is more to life than tennis and wants to keep putting things in perspective rather than getting sucked into a vicious cycle. “I think it’s very easy in tennis to panic and I’m guilty of it,” she added. “You feel like you only have 10 years of your career ahead of you and that it’s going to be over before you know it.

“Sometimes 21 feels so old, and then I remember that in the timeline of my career I still have 10 years of slams ahead of me, even 15 if I really want. And while it goes by very quickly, I’ve only had three years on tour so far, so there’s a lot more learning and developing to do. “There’s also a big chunk of life that happens after tennis. We think when we hit 35, our life is over, but there is so much still to come. Many people are just starting their life at that point. So, of course I want to make the most out of the years that I have on tour, but I also need to keep in perspective that there are other things in life than just tennis.”