Emma Raducanu at risk of leaving Top-100 after Madrid Open
To remain a Top-100 player in the WTA rankings, Emma Raducanu faces the uphill task of winning two matches at the 2023 Madrid Open. If she defeats her yet-to-be-decided qualifying opponent in the first round, World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will be waiting in the Round of 64.
When Raducanu participated in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart last week, she was ranked 68th in the world. Having reached the quarterfinals (lost to Swiatek) of the WTA 500 event in 2022, Raducanu was required to reach the last eight once again to avoid losing points.
However, Jelena Ostapenko defeated her in her opening match 6-2, 6-1 in just 58 minutes, and as a result, the British youngster slipped 17 spots in the rankings to reach No. 85 earlier this week. In the 2023 season so far, her win-loss record stands at 5-5.
Raducanu scripted history at the 2021 US Open when she became the only player, among men and women, to win a Grand Slam title as a qualifier. She won ten matches in a row and did not drop a single set as she beat Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the final at the age of just 18.
To her despair, it remains the only singles title in her cabinet to date. The 20-year-old has dealt with multiple injuries, mid-match retirements, poor form, and frequent changes in the coaching staff since then. In 2022, she lost 19 matches, winning just 17.
Raducanu trails Swiatek 2-0 in the head-to-head and is yet to win a set against the 21-year-old Pole. At the 2022 Stuttgart Open, Swiatek beat her 6-4, 6-4 and at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the scorecard read 6-3, 6-1.
Emma Raducanu enjoys hologram coaching session
Emma Raducanu, along with her sponsor Vodafone, recently surprised a couple of budding tennis players in London by setting up a coaching session through hologram technology, with the British player training them from Abu Dhabi.
Raducanu enjoyed the entire experience and hoped that coaches could train a future Wimbledon champion using the technology.
"Today was a really amazing experience," she said. "It was great to see the kids and be able to do this from 4,000 miles away with 5G. I think the connection was really good so we got to speak and I could give them feedback immediately. Yeah, maybe it's the future. Hopefully, coaches will be able to train the next Wimbledon champion wherever they are in the world."
Raducanu will play her first match at the 2023 Madrid Open on April 26 and if she emerges victorious, she will face Iga Swiatek on April 27.