Tennis champion proved right by Emma Raducanu comments after US Open statement
An emotional Emma Raducanu has reacted to her opening round defeat at the US Open, and her comments have proven a former Olympic champion right.
Emma Raducanu’s comments after she was dumped out of the US Open have confirmed fears a former tennis champion had about her. The Brit, 21, fell at the first hurdle after losing in three sets to Sofia Kenin, denying her her first win at Flushing Meadows in three years.
Ahead of the tournament, former Olympic gold medal winner Monica Puig, 30, slammed Raducanu’s decision to skip a couple of qualifying events in Canada and Cincinnati. Rather than getting some invaluable practice in on hard surfaces, the 2021 US Open winner decided to fly home and train in London instead.
Speaking on Tennis Channel earlier this month, Puig tipped Raducanu to struggle at the US Open. “Practice is practice, but playing in a match situation is something that can’t be replicated in practice and can only be done while competing,” the retired Puerto Rican ace said, before adding: “Not really sure what the play was here.”
After being knocked out, a tearful Raducanu admitted that her pre-tournament preparation wasn’t good enough, vindicating Puig’s comments. “I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open,” she told reporters.
“I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything’s automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it and manage my schedule slightly differently.”
Raducanu skipped the Olympics in Paris in order to focus on hard court surfaces ahead of the US Open, and her decision initially paid off after she reached the quarter-final of the Washington Open. But rather than capitalise on that momentum, she flew back to the UK.
When asked to clarify whether the decision to return home rather than compete in the subsequent qualifying events was a personal one or made by her team, Raducanu replied: “I would say it wasn’t me. It was more of like a collective call and, yeah, that’s what happened. You can’t really change it.”
Fighting back tears, she added: “I feel down… I feel, I feel sad. Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in.”
Since shocking the world by winning the US Open three years ago, Raducanu has failed to get beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam ever since. And in eight of the nine she’s competed in, she hasn’t managed to get beyond the second round.
After years of injury problems and coach changes, the Canadian-born Brit’s form seemed to be stabilising.
Her performance at Wimbledon last month was her joint-best and she recorded her first and second victories over players in the top 10 during the run-up to the tournament. But her defeat at Flushing Meadows suggests there’s still a heck of a long way to go.
