Emma Raducanu eager to silence her doubters with a hectic tournament schedule
Emma Raducanu admitted she was going back to the drawing board after her first round exit at the US Open, with her critics quick to suggest she needs to increase her tournament schedule.The 21-year-old stunned the world three years ago when she won the US Open, but she has struggled to live up to the inevitable hype that remarkable triumph created around her. ce.
After a first-round exit in 2022 and missing last year through injury, Sofia Kenin handed out more misery with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of this year’s US Open. That setback expanded the debate around Raducanu, who played in just one warm-up event ahead of the US Open and insisted her eagerness to play a limited schedule would not change.
“I don’t think I will ever be the player who is playing close to 30 events a year,” said Raducanu in New York. “It is not my style – it never has been. When I was playing juniors even, I would just play a few tournaments, play the slams and go to school. “I have kind of always done it that way. Even when I won the US Open, I only played a few tournaments that year. Yes, they were closer together.
“I am not in any big rush to play loads. I would rather target tournaments and be ready to play the tournaments that I am entered in.” She was emotional after her defeat against Kenin and admitted her approach may have to change, but itw as unclear at that point whether it meant she would play more tournaments. “Yeah, I feel down, like I feel sad,” she said after losing to Kenin. “This is a tournament I really want to do well in.”
“I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season. “Obviously, the Slams are over for this year, but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again.” Despite her early US Open exit, Raducanu has retained her position in the top 100 of the WTA Rankings and that will open the door for her to play some of the elite level tournaments coming up on the WTA Tour.
The WTA 500 Korea Open in Seoul is set to be her first tournament in the upcoming swing on the WTA Tour, with that event getting underway on September 16. Raducanu’s ranking will then get her into the WTA 1000 China Open and she could also play the Wuhan Open, which is also a W1000 tournament. With no ranking points to defend for the rest of 2024, Raducanu has a chance to end a challenging year in the top 50 of the WTA Rankings.
Former British No 1 Tim Henman spoke to Tennis365 prior to the US Open and suggested the criticism of Raducanu’s limited tournament schedule was misplaced. “There is almost a borderline obsession about different elements of her game and where she is going wrong,” Henman told Tennis365. “She hasn’t played in Canada and Cincinnati over the last few weeks… big deal! It’s two tournaments out of 52 weeks, she has played plenty of tournaments this year and she is top 50 in the WTA Race for this year.
“She is continuing to build and get fitter, stronger and faster. Her game is fantastic. “She will be top 20 or top 30 before long, so we need to stop this level of scrutiny.” Henman modified those viewed after the US Open defeat, as he urged Raducanu to play more tournaments and now it appears she is set to follow that lead and take on more tournaments over the next few weeks.
