Emma Raducanu ‘doesn’t do herself any favours’ as Naomi Osaka move puts her in spotlight
Emma Raducanu's scheduling decisions have come under scrutiny.
Andy Roddick believes Emma Raducanu needs to work on her decision-making to stand any chance of returning to the top of women’s tennis. Raducanu was recently dumped out of the US Open in the first round, three years after winning the event as a qualifier.
Before the tournament, Raducanu missed the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open after being denied wildcards for both competitions. She also rejected the chance to play in qualifying for the latter, instead opting for a training block ahead of her return to New York.
Raducanu’s decision was at odds with that of Naomi Osaka, who was able to put her pride to one side and take part in qualifying. Comparing the two on the Served podcast, Roddick accused Raducanu of holding herself back due to her decision-making.
“I am a fan of hers and I think sometimes she gets treated unfairly and also she doesn’t do herself any favours with scheduling and decisions,” he said. “I can’t figure out where I’m at with it. It’s like she won’t play qualies at all for whatever reason.
“[She] pulled out of the French [Open] once she had to play qualies and it’s not a good look when someone who has the pedigree of Naomi Osaka decides to play qualies in Cincinnati and she’s not too proud to do it.”
It comes after Kim Clijsters took aim at Raducanu’s inner circle while also suggesting that media scrutiny has played a role in her patchy form since winning the US Open in 2021.
“There’s two things that I think could be the reason,” said Clijsters. “It’s either maybe not having the right people around you who kind of guide you and say: ‘Okay, this is important to you like the scheduling, building enough weeks off in between, like training blocks to improve, to mentally switch off’.
“Or is it her? Is there other things going on mentally where she’s kind of just had it with media, pressure, whatever it is. It’s only those two things that could be the cause.
“I don’t know enough about her. I don’t know her personally, I don’t know her team, I really don’t know much about that whole situation. I’m sorry, but if you have a team of coaches around you or whoever is in charge, there’s obviously some misguidance there.”
