Looks very much like Emma will be a 1 slam wonder.

Now she has a number on her back, she doesn't seem to have the necessary tools to dismiss opponents who will inevitably up their game when playing a grand slam winner.

* September

did she have covid?

Some of you need to give your heads a wobble. After the Lord Mayor’s show comes the dustcart, but the show will go on again. After USO21, all of a sudden she had the world’s press focusing attention on her, with umpteen commercial and sponsorship opportunities thrown her way, guest appearances at Premiers, the red carpet, photoshoots, endless interviews, TV appearances, Sports Personality, social media blow ups, a Birthday, etc. Her concentration and motivation levels after all that naturally floored, whereas on the other hand, her opponents concentration and motivation levels sky rocketed as they all wanted to beat this new upstart who just won a slam, an ego boost. Writing her off completely because she couldn’t focus soon after in a match against Sasnovich is stupid, or the match v Ryba given she’d just come back from Covid, 1st match with a new coach and hadn’t played in 3 weeks.  As soon as she lost she went back out onto the practice courts. What did you think was going to happen after Flushing Meadows? That she was going to steam roll the tour

No reason why she can’t beat Stephens who’s probably been eating too much wedding cake and hasn’t played a full match herself since October. Unfortunately Halep is back in form and they’d meet Round 3 but she can win. 

One thing is for sure however, she wont be winning 10 slams as some have stated, that’s getting carried away, nobody wins 10 slams in the modern WTA era unless you are a super talent a la Serena or Graf, I think she can win Wimbledon having see her play on  grass, who knows on clay, requires more core strength amongst other things, will need to be tested during the European clay season. At the US Open she was playing low percentage tennis going for all her shots, fearlessness of youth, hope her new coach doesn’t start getting all technical. Ostapenko was the same at the French in 2017 but she was always going to be a 1 slam wonder, Raducanu has a better serve (not difficult), better movement and is more intelligent. It is futile putting a number on it as nobody had heard of her this time last year so who knows who will come to the fore 1 year from now, 2 years from now etc, but no reason why she can’t mix with the best at every slam and surprise at the Australian Open again. She is not your typical LTA product a la Keothavong, Sam Smith, Broady or Baltacha (R.I.P)

Also is currently undefeated in completed grand slam matches, 13 out of 13, 16 sets out of 16, if she hadn’t of succumbed to nerves, as mentioned in the op which may be the case first time on the big stage, she could have won against Tomljanovic as well.


purpose of the thread was actually about the fact she was a wildcard who looked the real deal rather than someone going to dominate a tour, never been a fan of wildcards for Brits at SW19 as they're generally a waste of time. With the LTA it’s just a case of throw enough darts and eventually you’ll hit the bullseye. A long career in the world's top 10 beckons nethertheless, Kind Regards.

She came very close to being a problem for Swiatek and I think there's been an assumption in certain quarters that she wouldn't really suit clay. In fact she seems to be showing some early potential on it.
I do think one of her biggest strengths is she knows her own mind (as demonstrated by the shock booting of Richardson ofc) and has something of an old head on young shoulders. Perhaps some players end up not really suiting a surface because they get told so by 3rd parties/media and then psychologically adapt to that accepted perception.

https://twitter.com/TelegraphSport/status/1518843549365772288

sacking one of the best coaches there is and going with LTA coaches instead
She doesn't seem to have much patience. And this just after a very good result on the clay in Stuttgart, the third best result of her career.

She will nosedive out of top 20, but hopefully she can make top ten in the meantime and score me a point in the flag comp.

This is a poor decision. because she had the perfect run at the US Open she thinks she should be winning and playing a top 10 level now. it doesn't work like that. look at Ostapenko after she won RG young. it's so hard to stay at the top, almost impossible as a youngster. Iga is the perfect example of how to do things. she built a team around gradually and slowly but surely her results improved. swapping coaches and starting fresh every 5 minutes isn't going to cut it

Shell be out the limelight soon enough and into obscurity when it comes to tennis thankfully

Cant be doing with her arrogance

The Telegraph has long been pushing the narrative that her father is central to her decision making.

If Emma Raducanu and her father Ian have a reputation for being hard-headed about coaches, Tuesday’s announcement did little to dispel it .../... But perhaps, in Riccardo Piatti, this exacting family have at last found an expert they all admire. Telegraph Sport understands that Piatti – a 63-year-old Italian – has emerged as the likely linchpin in the “new model” that Raducanu floated on Tuesday morning. Piatti would be a big catch within the coaching world – a man whose technical expertise has few rivals. As for whether this is a genuinely “new training model”, it is at least unconventional. But then the Raducanu family have always engaged multiple voices.

As one insider told Telegraph Sport last year, the Raducanus “start from the principle that most people don’t actually know what they’re talking about”. When Emma was a junior, there was even a theory that Ian wanted a different coach for every shot, rather as a professional golfer might have a specialist putting coach.

The same source described the way that coaching sessions tend to unfold. “They size you up, work out what you’re good at, suck out all the information they can get from you, and move on … [You] are often being asked for some specific information, like, ‘How I can get more width on my backhand return?’ or whatever it is. And then it’s ‘Okay, I’ve got it, thank you very much. Bye.’”

I tend to give full verse and chapter on subject matters when shorter points would often suffice, it's an old habit that probably wont leave me.

A good rest of year for Raducanu would be second week of all 3 slams, at her age and stage of career.

Hard to believe she once won 10 matches in a row to win the 2021 USO.

perfect draw. perfect health.

Injuries + coaching changes + lack of confidence = no consistency and poor results. Write off a 20 year old a 1 slam wonder with at least 10 years in front of her if you want, but time is on her side.

Too much too soon. she's done

wrist injury ruined Laura Robson's career

yep says its minor but problems with wrists never good news

Really interesting interview with Emma in the Telegraph, on a day where Burrage and Boulter play in a WTA 250 final inspired in part by Emma's US open win.

“What I have realised in the past two years, the tour and everything that comes with it, it’s not a very nice, trusting and safe space. You have to be on guard because there are a lot of sharks out there. I think people in the industry, especially with me because I was 19, now 20, they see me as a piggy bank.'

That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment, Anything can come my way, I will take it for what I have right now. I promised myself that, on the court that day. Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other. I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself I wish I’d never won the US Open, I wish that didn’t happen. Then I am like, remember that feeling, remember that promise, because it was completely pure.”

“I was under so much pressure to perform, people had no idea what was going on and I had to have this façade, to keep everything inside. It has been really hard. And then to be scrutinised for it when they don’t know what is going on. I am very young and still learning and making mistakes. It is a lot harder when you are making mistakes in front of everyone and everyone has something to say about it. The tour is completely brutal.”

Even the King – when she reported to Buckingham Palace in December to receive her MBE – asked her: “So have you found a coach?”

“The pain [in the wrists] escalated last summer after Wimbledon,”“I started with a new coach and I was really motivated to get going. We were overtraining, a lot of repetition, and I carried on even through pain because I didn’t want to be perceived as weak.

“I was struggling with the physical pain but the mental side of it was really difficult for me too. I always want to put forward the best version of myself, or strive for that, but I knew I couldn’t. I very much attach my self-worth to my achievements. If I lost a match I would be really down, I would have a day of mourning, literally staring at the wall. I feel things so passionately and intensely.

Really shows the pressure she has felt and definitely makes sense to be open if you're not the kind of person for whom internalising is positive.
Bottling things up can cause illness for some people.

Full interview
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2023/06/18/emma-raducanu-wish-never-won-us-open-sharks-piggy-bank/

Eugenie the piggy bank. Aljona the piggy bank. Cori the piggy bank. Mirra the piggy bank..