Emma Raducanu has been advised to “not listen to criticism,” with tennis legend Billie Jean King stating that once she learns to turn off when it comes to online bullying, she will mentally fare much better.
Following her incredible US Open victory in 2021, Raducanu has had a challenging two years due to her struggles with form and injuries. Her spectacular Grand Slam victory in a qualifying match at Flushing Meadows propelled the young player to a career-high No. 10 in the WTA Rankings, but she lost her way and was unable to repeat that success on the regular Tour.
She slid out of the top 70 by the end of 2022, and this year, she followed her downward trend by dropping out of the top 100. Her struggles with injuries also played a part, as she missed multiple occasions before electing to have surgery on both her wrists and her ankle.
Talking to Sky Sports, Billie Jean King commented:
“I just know it’s gotten tough for her, I just hope that she’ll be alright because it’s tough. If you want to be a professional athlete, it’s tough.
“And you’ve got to learn not to listen to criticism, you’ve got to learn all these things, and that’s why I say don’t take anything personally because once you learn that, you’re okay. And if people are bullying you on social media, you’ve got to stop looking at it or get some way to finish up, it’s really important. But I hope she continues to play, I hope she gets over injuries and comes back and really does well in tennis and particularly in the US Open because she’s won that one now, and the way she won it is still amazing, so I hope she keeps playing.”
Emma Raducanu in 2023
LWWLLWWLWW Ranked world no.131, the Brit played her last match on the 18th of April when she lost to world no.20 Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-1 in the 1st round in Stuttgart (draw).
Until now, during this year Raducanu achieved a compiled 5-5 win-loss record.
