What a difference a year makes in tennis. Just 12 months ago Emma Raducanu became the darling of New York after coming through US Open qualifying to go on and storm through the main draw at 18 to claim a shock grand slam success, lifting the trophy for one of the greatest British fairy-tale sporting stories.
That instantly propelled the Bromley teenager into a different and perhaps not always entirely healthy and appropriate stratosphere of spotlight and commercial demand given her age and still relatively early stage of development. Winning one of the majors in tennis at such an embryonic stage of Raducanu’s career was a remarkable achievement.
But though it brought almost unimaginable fame and riches and has certainly set the youngster up for life financially with all the sponsorship spin-offs, the unexpectedly early triumph has not necessarily made the next year of her tennis development any easier. There have been additional challenges and pressures, and maybe even mistakes were made too.
READ MORE:
-
Why Raducanu’s victories over Williams & Azarenka might be bigger for her than US Open triumph
-
Nick Kyrgios has a Grand Slam title on the horizon after ATP success
Raducanu admitted as much in very revealing comments before the defence of her title – which not altogether surprisingly came to grief in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 against the experienced French player Alize Cornet in the first round on Louis Armstrong Court at Flushing Meadows late on Tuesday night.
On form shown this year the 32-year-old Cornet – who has been knocking out slam winners for fun at the majors in 2022 - should have been the worthy favourite, and would have been seeded had her Wimbledon run points counted. She stood up to Raducanu’s baseline barrage before picking her apart with a series of delightful drop shots.
But as the curtain was abruptly brought down on Raducanu’s year as US Open champion, it was worth reflecting on her pre-event admissions over the loss of naïve joyfulness and just swinging away playing the sport she loves, plus looking at all that has happened since – much of it positive, though some less so.
Alizé Cornet stuns in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 to beat Emma Raducanu 🙌
#USOpen
There have been the changes of coaches – from Nigel Sears, to Andrew Richardson who partnered her to the US Open victory, to Torben Beltz and on to Dmitry Tursunov this year, with some temporary appointments in between. That would appear to be an area where stability is needed to kick on once more.
Then there have been the injuries and fitness concerns. Raducanu retired with breathing difficulties and sickness at Wimbledon in 2021, before her New York adventure later that year. She then tested positive for Covid. But in 2022 she started to get blisters on her racquet hand and feet, and suffered leg, back and rib problems that all led to retirements.
Before turning 20 Raducanu has already acquired huge sponsorship deals with Nike, jewellers Tiffany, Vodafone, British Airways, HSBC and Porsche. This all represents a commercial job well done by her management team – but very few players that young attract this sort of interest, and there will always be questions raised as to whether that has impacted on her tennis development. The player insists that is not the case.
Results, partly due to the injuries and withdrawals, have been less than impressive including an early exit at Wimbledon. And in many ways Raducanu’s similarly brief appearance in New York may come as something of a relief, a chance to turn a page after a mad year, reset, and get back to getting on.
Her life may never quite be the same as it was in the more carefree summer of 2021, but some return back towards a degree of normality and just focusing on what a 19-year-old making her way in the game and developing as a person should be doing sounds the right call.
In those earlier reflections, Raducanu said: “I am really, really fortunate and have a lot of amazing opportunities that come my way but for sure that comes with a certain trade-off where you don’t have any time to switch off or be alone or do things that you want to do. You’re constantly on guard. But it also comes with what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
“But after the tournament it’s like a fresh start. You’ve taken it, you close a chapter and you start a new one. The only way is to look back at what worked, what didn’t work and take that forward as to what you’re going to use for the coming months, the coming years on the tour.”
Raducanu’s ranking will plummet to around 80 as a result of the loss to Cornet – but what may matter more in the medium term is staying healthy, sticking with a coach that gets her and rediscovering some of that youthful exuberance.
