Tennis veteran Martina Navratilova claims that Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open victory has become a setback because of the incredibly high expectations in Britain these days.
Raducanu, who made his debut in 2021 by making it to the fourth round of Wimbledon, went on an incredible journey in New York later that year to become the first player, at the age of 18, to win a Grand Slam as a qualifier.
The 21-year-old will return to action at the Miami Open on Tuesday when she plays Wang Xiyu of China in the opening round. In the years following Raducanu’s incredible victory at the US Open, Navratilova claims it has been “good news, bad news” for Raducanu.
Navratilova expressed her remarks about Raducanu and said: “It was amazing when she won but it’s become a handicap because the expectations have gone sky-high. It wasn’t a fluke because Emma had gotten to that level. It wasn’t just that she played great tennis and then all of a sudden she couldn’t play, but the pressure that’s been on her since then—particularly being a Brit—you can’t get away from it.”
She further added: “It’s a big burden to carry, but hopefully she’ll get back to it and most of all, she needs to get healthy and stay healthy—and, that way, you can build on that. It’s hard to build any confidence and momentum from winning because you don’t stay healthy enough to win. It’s a nasty Catch-22 where you can win with confidence but you can’t have confidence without winning. Hopefully, she’ll get healthy and stay healthy so we’ll see her talent again.”
Emma Raducanu in 2024
LWWLLWWLWW Ranked no.288, Emma played her last match on the 11th of March when she was defeated by world no.2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 7-5 in the 3rd round in Indian Wells (draw).
During this season Raducanu owns a compiled 5-5 record.
