Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has said she sometimes wishes she hadn’t won the Grand Slam because of the pressure that comes with success and fame. The then 18-year-old appeared out of nowhere to win the 2021 tournament in style, not dropping a single set in the nine matches she played before the final, but she couldn’t. continue on his way due to recurring injuries.
“That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I thought to myself that I would literally trade any fight in the world for that moment,” Raducanu told The Sunday Times. “Since then I have had many setbacks, one after the other. I’m resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. Sometimes I think I wish I had never won the U.S. Open.”
The victory was accompanied by praise, but it also exposed Raducanu to a world previously unknown, often ruthless and paved with expectations. “I had to mature very quickly. When I won I was extremely naive,” Raducanu said. “What I’ve achieved over the past two years, the tour and everything that comes with it, is not a very pleasant space, where you feel confident and safe. You have to be on your guard because there are a lot of sharks”.
“I think people in the industry, especially me who was 19 and am 20 now, think of me as a piggy bank. It was difficult to find it. I got fried several times. I learned to keep a circle as small as possible. Raducanu missed Roland-Garros this year and will also be absent from Wimbledon while she recovers from wrist and ankle surgery.
“The pain intensified last summer after Wimbledon,” she said. “I started with a new coach and I was very motivated. We were overtraining…and I kept going through the pain because I didn’t want to be seen as weak.
