“Allergic to playing qualifying”;”Earn your way back” – Fans react to Emma Raducanu skipping Cincinnati Open 2024 after missing out on wildcard

Emma Raducanu’s preparations for the 2024 US Open have hit a snag, as the Brit is set to miss the Cincinnati Open after failing to receive a wildcard. Tennis fans have voiced their criticism regarding Raducanu’s decision not to compete in the qualifiers of the WTA 1000 event.

Raducanu opted to decline the offer of a wildcard for the Paris Olympics, choosing to prioritize her health and maintain her fitness for the North American hardcourt swing. The Brit kicked off her US Open Series at the Citi Open, where she defeated Elise Mertens and Peyton Stearns before suffering a narrow 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to eventual champion Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals.

The 21-year-old did not receive a wildcard for the Canadian Open and decided not to enter the qualifying draw, as the WTA 1000 event followed closely on the heels of her deep run in Washington.

Although Emma Raducanu was expected to take part in the Cincinnati Open as her last stop before the New York Major, the Brit failed to secure one of the four main-draw wildcards. Instead, Caroline Wozniacki, Bianca Andreescu, Peyton Stearns and Caroline Dolehide have earned direct entry into the main draw, while Taylor Townsend and Marina Stakusic were granted the qualifying wildcards.

With Raducanu absent from the qualifying draw, several fans chastised the 21-year-old for her reluctance to compete in qualifiers, especially since her fairytale run to the 2021 US Open title was achieved as a qualifier.

“Someone need to tell her playing qualifying rounds isn’t end of her career,” one fan commented.

“She’s had enough generous treatment with wildcards over the last 3 years. Time to earn your way back up,” another fan contended.

“She’d better be following in the footsteps of billionaire Emma and scrolling through the ITF website calendar to vulture some 75K in Chicago! She’s allergic to playing qualifying when it’s literally what gave her a career in the first place,” said another.

While one fan suggested that Raducanu might have missed the ranking cut-off for the Cincinnati Open qualifiers, another fan argued that the Brit would likely have received a wildcard into the qualifying draw if she requested it.

“She wouldn’t have made the quali cut in Cincy most likely. So it’s more that she missed the cut, rather than choosing to skip it. Title is not correctly framed. She could have made Toronto quali cut, but most likely chose to skip it because she wouldn’t have enough rest from Washington. In any case, she played good in Washington, so she has some warmup before USO,” one fan posted.

“It’s very likely that they would have given her a wildcard to play qualies, if she’d asked for one, especially after what she did at the US Open a few years ago. She’s a worldwide star now, thanks to how she won the US Open,” a fan argued.

Given that Emma Raducanu will miss the WTA 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati, fans have also raised concerns about her lack of adequate preparation for the US Open.

“Going to be hard given Emma’s recurring tendency to not want to play qualifying rounds. She may have to go without warmup until the US Open, unless if she decides to a pursue for a wildcard in Cleveland. If only this was a 96 player draw, she likely would have been in…,” one fan wrote.

“So Emma Raducanu’s skipping both hard court 1000 events before the US Open. This is really surprising to me… One of the reasons she gave for skipping the Olympics was to get a head start on the hard courts so missing both of these big events doesn’t make any sense to me,” said another.

“At one point I was chasing, playing too many tournaments when I wasn’t ready” – Emma Raducanu defends her scheduling decisions

After receiving pushback for her decision to skip the 2024 French Open and the Paris Olympics, Emma Raducanu defended her decisions regarding her schedule.

During her campaign at Eastbourne International, the Brit opened up about her conscious effort to avoid overexerting herself by playing too many tournaments without giving herself adequate time to recover.

“I think at one point I was chasing, playing too many tournaments when I wasn’t ready, and then I was just picking up niggle after niggle in every tournament, because I never really gave myself any time to do the training and the work. I think that’s something I did a lot better this year,” Emma Raducanu said.

Raducanu also emphasized the importance of making scheduling decisions based on her priorities, despite any external backlash she may have to endure.

“Even though I might get challenged or questioned for not playing certain tournaments like the French Open or the Olympics, I think that for me, that is just part of it,” Emma Raducanu said.

“Doing things at my own speed and doing things how I want to rather than how everyone else thinks is best for me, because ultimately me and the close few people around me just only know what is actually best for me and my game,” she added.

Emma Raducanu will be back in action at the 2024 US Open, featuring among the main draw entrants of the New York Major, which commences on August 26.