“Naomi Osaka put pride on the side” – Andy Roddick questions Emma Raducanu deciding not to play qualifiers in preparations for US Open 2024
Andy Roddick recently raised question marks on Emma Raducanu's decision not to play qualifying rounds of any tournament leading to the 2024 US Open in the August 24 episode of the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast. He based his argument on Naomi Osaka, opting to enter the qualifying field at the recently held Cincinnati Open.
The Japanese player won against Anna Blinkova in the first-round qualifying, but lost to Ashlyn Krueger in the second in Cincinnati.
This was Osaka's first time in the qualifiers after the 2018 Qatar Open, where he defeated the likes of Lu Jingjing and Danka Kovinic to reach the main draw. She then overcame Katerina Siniakova in the first round before losing to Anastasija Sevastova in the second.
Emma Raducanu won the US Open women's singles championship in 2021 but hasn't won any trophies on the tour since then. In her recent campaigns at Wimbledon and Citi Open, she showed promise by reaching the fourth round and quarterfinals, respectively.
However, former world No. 1 Andy Roddick suggested the Brit should've replicated four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka in testing herself at the qualifying rounds of a preparatory tournament.
"Raducanu… I loved what she was building through Washington and then she decided she wasn’t going to play qualifiers in any of the tournaments, which is even stranger when you see someone like Naomi Osaka put pride on the side and go play qualifiers in Cincinnati," Roddick said in an episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast (on 19:13).
Roddick added:
"Those of us questioning that decision maybe felt validated once we see someone like an Osaka go play qualifying. So, we don’t know, I loved what Raducanu was building at Wimbledon, I loved the continuation of that in Washington."
Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim points out Emma Raducanu succeeded at 2021 US Open as a qualifier
In the same episode of the "Served with Andy Roddick" podcast, tennis journalist Jon Wertheim pointed out that Emma Raducanu's sole success on the tour, that is winning the US Open in 2021, came when she was a qualifier.
"Isn’t it weird that Raducanu is now so averse to playing qualifiers when the one breakthrough tournament of her career came when she got all that momentum after having qualified?" he argued (at 20:01)
"Yeah, that is weird. I don’t know if I would’ve ever had any ego about playing qualifiers if I had to. If anything, I would’ve welcomed the chance to get some reps where I didn’t have to be near perfect to win," Roddick added.
Emma Raducanu will start her 2024 US Open campaign against former Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin. The two are scheduled to battle in the first round on Tuesday, August 27. Naomi Osaka, on the other hand, faces Jelena Ostapenko in her opener.