How Emma Raducanu's Asian campaign crumbled in disappointment after her bold 'thrive' comments
The Asian swing seemed to promise a lot for Emma Raducanu but things have not gone as planned. Since an encouraging run to the quarterfinals at the Korea Open that was cut short by a retirement, her journey has only gone downhill.
The Briton had come into the Asian swing fresh off a first-round exit at the US Open but had strong results at Wimbledon and the Citi Open.
It began to look good again once Raducanu won two big matches against the talented Peyton Stearns and the seeded Yue Yuan at the Korea Open. Earlier, she had even told the WTA Insider about her plans to “prioritize” the Asian swing as she “thrived” in this part of the world.
"I have to prioritize and Asia was one of those for me. So I stacked the year on the backend heavy, because I'm excited. I thrive in Asia. It's where I truly feel like home. So I'm buzzing for that trip even though it's at the end of the year. I'm looking forward to going out there and trying to take it," Raducanu told WTA Insider.
The season was supposed to be “stacked” for the Briton, who has missed out on a lot of action due to injuries, surgeries and recovery breaks, in the last couple of years. But after she retired from her Korea Open quarterfinal against Daria Kasatkina (down 1-6, 0-0), no matches followed.
The Asian swing, the flow of which has been hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last few years, is back to its full strength and as Raducanu herself admitted is “really long”. China alone has two WTA 1000 tournaments — in Beijing and Wuhan.
"I always knew there was a really long block in Asia at the end of the year and I didn't want to overdo myself in the first half of the year," Raducanu had said.
"If you look at the tournaments I played it was relatively light. I skipped quite a few weeks over the clay knowing that I'm at the stage where I'm not trying to win every event on the clay, on the grass and hard," she added.
And yet, despite her having spoken about being excited to play in Asia, the Briton has been watching the action go by.
One of the two WTA 1000 tournaments has come and gone, another is underway but Raducanu is nowhere to be seen. She has withdrawn from both tournaments. That begs the question: how long before fans stop building up the anticipation for a Raducanu revival?
Is it time that fans leave Emma Raducanu be?
It has been three years since Emma Raducanu burst onto the scene at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships before going on to win the US Open as a qualifier.
Every year, upon her return to both Slams (one of which happens to be her home) there is an excruciating amount of scrutiny of her game, form, fitness and whatnot. Sometimes she has fared well but there have been early exits as well.
For instance, the Briton exited the US Open in the first round after losing out to fellow one-time Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin. She, much to the chagrin of the same fans, was lackluster against Kasatkina even before she pulled the plug on the match.
The script was similar to some of the past times when she had given fans hopes of a big revival: a disappointing phase followed by a big win battling three-set win over a feisty opponent, followed by another solid win or two, only to be undone by another injury setback.
This time, it was a ligament sprain, an issue that has since also ruled her out of the China and Wuhan Open.
"I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal. It means I can't play in Beijing but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can," Raducanu had said of her injury.
As much as it hurts for fans to watch Raducanu go down a similar spiral, as she has a few times in recent times, not much of which could have been in her own hands.
The demanding nature of modern-day tennis, which has near-forced the likes of Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas to speak, takes its toll on players.
As for Raducanu’s statements, players should be allowed to be hopeful of their prospects. There’s nothing wrong with expecting the best from yourself. This is not Raducanu’s first setback and it probably won’t be the last. But that’s no reason for now allowing her time away, to rest and recover.
These moments away from tennis can be the hardest for players. It is time to let the youngster be. Only by allowing her some space, can those from the outside ease the pressure.