EMMA RADUCANU ‘NEEDS TO BE HONEST WITH HERSELF’ WHEN SHE PONDERS HER FUTURE IN TENNIS

Emma Raducanu needs to be honest with herself when she considers her next steps in tennis.

As the dust settles on her first round exit from the US Open, the 21-year-old who created one of the most remarkable stories in tennis history when she won at the Flushing Meadows venue three years ago has now reached a crossroads in her sporting career.

We should start this story by stating that the words on this page are not designed to chastise a player who was clearly upset as she lost against Sofia Kenin in the first round at the US Open on Tuesday. 

Indeed, the media are entirely invested in Raducanu thriving in our sport as her potential disappearance will close a door on a player who has confirmed she has the potential to reach out to an audience beyond those who regularly watch tennis.

Raducanu’s breakthrough win in New York in 2021 provided a huge boost to tennis around the world, with girls inspired by her remarkable rise inspiring A-list sponsors to jump on board with a young woman who appeared to have it all.

Despite her lack of success on the court over the last three years, the tennis media have tried to stay loyal to Raducanu, with website engagement on her stories confirming an ongoing interest in a player has failed to live up to her billing for three straight years since her miracle in New York.

Now, after Raducanu sobbed in her latest US Open press conference, there is a sense that this phase of her story may have reached a conclusion.

The debate over what comes next for Raducanu has been raging in recent weeks after she pulled out of qualifying for the French Open and then turned down the chance to play in his first Olympic Games, suggesting she wanted to prepare for the US Open instead of going to Paris.

That sentiment would have been justified if she had played a full schedule ahead of her return to New York, but Raducanu only ended up playing one warm-up tournament in Washington due to her apparent reluctance to play in qualifying events.

She decided not to play in the qualifying draw in Toronto, with reports in the UK media are suggesting those controlling ‘Brand Raducanu’ were not keen to expose their star to qualifying tournaments as it may not help her image.

Those rumours were given additional weight when Raducanu insisted her decision not to play in qualifying events was not entirely her own as she stated: “It wasn’t just me. It was more of a collective call and that’s what happened. I can’t really change it.”

The end result saw Raducanu try to use her first round match against former Grand Slam champion Kenin as match practice and that plan backfired in predictable fashion as she looked woefully out of touch and lost the first set 6-1 before eventually going out in three sets.

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So what comes next for Raducanu?

There have been reports claiming some of her lucrative sponsorship deals are up for renewal imminently and the harsh reality must be that the world No 72 is not the commercially attractive superstar she was in the days and weeks after her US Open win.

The only way Raducanu can remain in the spotlight is by confirming she is more than a part-time tennis player, but that can only happen if she enters more tournaments.

She is due to play an event Seoul in the middle of September and will also have the option to play in other lower-level tournaments when the WTA Tour moves to China and Japan, yet her desire to play in high-level tournaments may not be realistic from this point forward.

Wildcards have dried up from tournament directors no longer convinced she is the draw she once was, even though Raducanu continues to insist she has no intention of playing a regular tournament schedule for as long as she is a professional tennis player.

“I don’t think I will ever be the player who is playing close to 30 events a year,” said Raducanu earlier this week.

“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.”

All in tennis would welcome a Raducanu revival, but the player at the centre of this story needs to consider whether she is willing to commit to playing enough tennis to get her ranking in a place where she can compete with the game’s best players.

Only Raducanu can decide what comes next in her tennis career and she can’t allow agents, sponsors or tose closest to her to dictate her future in a sport that has moved on without her over the last three years.

If Raducanu doesn’t want to play more tournaments, her career simply cannot progress and that could force her to consider whether she has a future in the game at all.

Talk of retirement for a 21-year-old who has so much talent seems ludicrous, but a sporting story that started with a fairytale and is now in limbo.

2024-08-29T16:52:01Z dg43tfdfdgfd