"I want to win Wimbledon, that's number one" - Emma Raducanu lays bare her "long term" goal
Emma Raducanu has revealed her long-term goal. According to the former World No. 10, it is to win the Wimbledon Championships women's singles title. However, the Brit also acknowledged that in the short term, she needs to focus on her health and on developing her game.
Raducanu became one of women's tennis' most talked about names almost overnight following her shock 2021 US Open title triumph. The Brit, aged only 18 at the time, entered the prestigious hardcourt Major as a qualifier, but went all the way and clinched the title after defeating Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the final.
Unsurprisingly, lucrative deals followed, with Raducanu expected to become one of women's tennis' dominant forces going forward. However, that is not how things have turned out. Form and injury woes have plagued the Brit ever since she won the 2021 US Open, and she finds herself ranked World No. 69 right now.
Raducanu, though, has shown recent signs of improvement after returning to the WTA Tour this year following an extended spell on the sidelines in 2023. The former World No. 10 underwent multiple wrist and ankle surgeries last year.
Recently, in an interview with Marie Claire UK, the 21-year-old spoke about her long-term objective of winning the women's singles title at Wimbledon.
"Long term, I want to win Wimbledon. That’s my number one goal," Raducanu told Marie Claire.
The 2021 US Open champion went on to talk about her short-term goal as well, which is all about maintaining her health and developing as a tennis player.
"But in the short term, I just want to keep staying healthy and improving my skills. Working on the actual development of them rather than any immediate results - that’s my priority right now," Raducanu added.
A promising run in singles and mixed doubles controversy; Emma Raducanu's Wimbledon 2024 campaign in a nutshell
Raducanu's 2024 Wimbledon Championships campaign was a mixed bag. In singles, the Brit stormed past Renata Zarazua, Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari to set up a fourth-round clash against qualifier Lulu Sun, and was widely expected to dispatch the New Zealander.
However, controversy erupted ahead of her match against Sun, after she pulled out of the mixed doubles event, where she was set to partner the legendary Andy Murray. The former ATP World No. 1 had withdrawn from the singles and planned to bid farewell to SW19 after playing out his men's doubles (with brother Jamie) and mixed doubles (with Raducanu) matches.
When Raducanu decided not to take to the court with Murray, the latter had already been eliminated from the men's doubles event, which meant an anti-climactic end to the three-time Major winner's Wimbledon career. Raducanu faced considerable criticism for prioritizing her singles campaign.
Unfortunately for the former WTA World No. 10, pulling out from the mixed doubles event did not bear fruit in her singles campaign, as she surprisingly lost to Sun. Raducanu's most recent outing came at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where she lost to eventual champion Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals.