Emma Raducanu injury curse explained as a bold rankings prediction is made

Emma Raducanu has learned some ‘harsh lessons’ over the last couple of years, but she is ready to bounce back to the top of the game in 2025.That’s the verdict of respected coach and tennis expert Mark Petchey, who worked with Raducanu in the weeks before her famous 2021 US Open win. Petchey has been a prominent supporter of Raducanu during a period when the critics have been circling around the young Brit, but he suggests she is well-placed to storm back to the top of the women’s game next year.

Petchey believes Raducanu has made some mistakes on her journey since that iconic New York victory, but he suggests the criticism that has been coming her way is misplaced. “It’s very easy in life to judge and to point out the mistakes that people make. You can only live your life forward,” Petchey bold Betway. “From my perspective what Emma has had to face in the last two and a half years are good harsh lessons. Those lessons have made her realise that if she wants to be one of the best players in the world there’s a way that you have to do it. There’s not really a cheat sheet.

“There’s a volume of work and a necessary number of tournaments that you have to play. My sense is that she’s super aware of that now. “From that perspective, I think she is in the right sort of spot that she needs to be in, in terms of being able to become a player that’s residing comfortably inside the world’s top twenty. “I said back in 2021 that the next couple of years were going to be pretty bumpy for her and hopefully she was going to get the right guidance.

“It’s probably been a year longer than I thought it was going to be but if you were to ask me now how I see 2025 going, I feel she’ll be inside the world’s top 25 at the end of the season.” Raducanu may have had too many voices giving her advice over the last three years, with coaching changes coming at a rapid rate and Petchey believes that experience will have guided her to believe she can make her own decisions. “I’m a big believer that you should follow your own path. There certainly wasn’t a blueprint for Emma to win the US Open, which she did. And I don’t think she should be following anyone’s path,” he continued.

“Whatever path she’s trodden in the last couple of years is something that she owns. The knowledge from that sort of journey that she’s been on, she needs to implement without looking at anyone else. “You can be inspired by other people, but when you’re as good as Emma and from the lessons she has learned, she knows that puts her in the best place to play the best tennis. “Tennis is an individual sport for a reason. You need to be very selfish in your outlook to do the things that are right for you rather than look at other people.”