Emma Raducanu has packed more into one year than many tennis players do over a career.
The teenager, fresh from completing her end-of-school exams, made her senior debut 12 months ago in the first round of last year’s Nottingham Open, where she was beaten in straight sets by fellow Briton Harriet Dart.
After catching the eye during a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon — her maiden appearance in a Major ended after she suffered breathing difficulties and was forced to retire — she became a global star by winning the US Open as a qualifier, a 100-1 long-shot, in September.
Stunning triumph
That stunning triumph — she was Britain’s first female Grand Slam champion since Virginia Wade (1977) and the youngest woman (18) since Maria Sharapova (2004) to lift Major silverware — opened all sorts of doors. She was asked to send Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II a message for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and invited to the highly sought-after Met Gala in New York.
But Raducanu also struggled with bothersome fitness issues, endured a bout of Covid, changed coaches thrice before deciding to go solo — a move that raised eyebrows and sparked think-pieces — and dealt with the weight of expectations that sits on the shoulders of a 19-year-old whose every move is scrutinised.
“To come back 12 months later, full circle, knowing what happened is pretty surreal,” she said ahead of this year’s Nottingham Open. “It is where it started over for me and I am proud of what I have achieved over the last 12 months. It signifies the start of a journey for me.”
Delightful debut: Raducanu reached the fourth round in her first Major appearance (Wimbledon 2021). | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Unfortunately for Raducanu, her already crammed year got busier — and not pleasantly busier. A “freak” side strain forced her out of her opening match and the Birmingham event, threatening her participation at Wimbledon, set to run from June 27 to July 10.
This left her with an anxious period of rehab just to return to the grass-court swing; thoughts of mounting a title challenge at her home Grand Slam will have to wait.
While a scan appeared to allay fears of Raducanu missing Wimbledon altogether, it didn’t quieten the murmurs over her worrying injury record.
String of fitness issues
She has suffered a string of fitness issues in her opening season: hip and back complaints coupled with blisters during the past few months. She has had to retire from matches three times since her fairytale run from the qualifying rounds to US Open glory.
The injuries are especially frustrating for a player with the talent to win multiple Majors. Not only do they directly affect her results — they have played a part in her not winning more than two matches at a tournament since her New York triumph — but they also hinder her development.
Backing herself: Raducanu says she trusts her own decision-making. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
The longer she spends in recovery, the less time she has on the training courts to add to her game. And if she is fighting to regain basic fitness, it’s much tougher to make significant progress in the gym and improve her physical floor, like she did after Wimbledon last year with a gruelling weight-training programme that paid off at the US Open.
“It is just a shame. I am obviously disappointed and it is really bad luck,” Raducanu said of her latest injury. “That’s out of my control, but right now all I can focus on is what I am doing and I think I am doing a lot of good work. I just need to trust that it will come good.”
Judy Murray, a tennis coach and mother of three-time Grand Slam winner Andy, believes that Raducanu needs time to mature physically and should hire experts to help her.
“What’s becoming increasingly clear is that Raducanu’s body needs time to mature,” Judy wrote in a column for The Telegraph. “If you strip away the fact she was catapulted into this amazing success following her US Open triumph, she is no different to any other young player in the sense that her body needs time to fill out, become more robust and resilient.
“It’s a process that simply doesn’t happen overnight, especially when the physical demands on her body are at an all-time high,” Judy said, adding that her son Andy suffered from cramping while moving up from the junior circuit to the ATP.
Judy also urged Raducanu to make more use of female expertise in taking care of her health, highlighting the example of Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen who opened up about how menstrual cramps derailed her run at the French Open.
“How many of today’s top female players, I wonder, are harnessing the peaks and troughs of their cycle and tailoring it to their training and performance?” Judy wrote. “How many could feel more empowered by investing in a women’s health physio or specialist and making their entourage that bit more female-centric?
“... the menstrual cycle and its impact on athletic performance is an area of sports science that has been woefully neglected and only now are we beginning to understand its impact on an athlete, both psychologically and physically.”
It will be interesting to see whether Judy’s suggestion resonates with Raducanu, whose approach to building a team of coaching and support staff is anything but conventional.
Switching coaches
Raducanu switched coaches from Nigel Sears, who once coached Ana Ivanovic, to former British Davis Cupper Andrew Richardson after last year’s Wimbledon. Richardson’s contract was not renewed after the US Open victory, which surprised many. German coach Torben Beltz was hired in November and fired in April, and she has been without a full-time coach since.
She has, however, done a lot of technical work with the Lawn Tennis Association’s senior performance advisor Louis Cayer, who is reportedly well regarded by the Raducanu camp.
While some experts have been critical of the constant churn of coaching staff, those close to her say Raducanu knows what she wants and desires new ideas and insight once she thinks she has hit her ceiling under a coach.
“That is definitely a journey [where] I’m learning on the way but it’s what works for me as an individual,” she told WSJ magazine. “It might not work for anyone else and people might look at me like I’m crazy but I trust my own decision-making and my own beliefs of what I think is right.
“I know that even though I’m quite young, I’ve got a lot of experience banked. And at the end of the day you’re out there on your own.”
This streak of independent, original thinking is reflected in some of her other interests, which include economics, ballet, go-karting, horseback riding, tap dancing, skiing, basketball and motorbikes.
But her unconventional approach, early success and fitness issues have caused some to wonder whether her undoubted natural talent will ever realise its full potential.
Gauff’s healthier environment
Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, felt Roland-Garros runner-up Coco Gauff was on a better path than Raducanu. “[Gauff does] everything in moderation… that’s a healthier sort of environment,” Evert said. “I mean Raducanu had an unbelievable US Open but I think she’s been struggling ever since then and I think it’s going to be a while if she wins another one but I think Coco is the best of that young group and she’s been doing everything the correct way.”
But given Raducanu’s ability to surprise experts and her killer instinct when focused on court, the current uncertainty may only be temporary.
“I’m still 19 and I’ve already won a Grand Slam so I can take my time and put things in place because I know my motivation isn’t any less,” Raducanu said.
“I don’t think anyone would say, ‘I wish I didn’t win a Grand Slam at 18’ because that is what I set out to do — and I did that. That comes with a lot of challenges but managing, learning and growing through the adversities that I have faced — I would much rather have that.”
