Not long ago Emma Raducanu said that she'd follow her own playing schedule which was and would be less than is typical for tennis playing professional as this suited her. She was losing too many matches and she and her advisers decided that playing less matches would make her more competitive. Perhaps it was trying to recreate that freshness she had when she won the 2021 US Open.
See video below which reveals that Emma has no toenails...! Do any of the other players suffer from this condition due to heavy training? I think not. What does this say about her anatomy?
Fast forward to the 2024 US Open. She has just lost in the first round against Sophia Kenin in three sets. She broke down in the post-match press conference saying that she should have played MORE before the tournament. She'll take a look at her schedule.
All in all she is definitely confused about what her playing schedule should be. Many people, both non-playing experts and players have said that she needed to play more to become match ready. There is no substitute for playing competitively to become competitive,
Practice alone is not enough for a tournament pro. You have to go through the grind of winning tournament matches to sharpen the mind to winning. This is common knowledge so where did she get the idea that playing less was a good idea?
It is another Raducanu screw-up. The fact is that she and her team have unjustified expectations. They are grappling with an unsolvable problem. She won the 2021 US Open unexpectedly. I think she got very lucky. I also think that she is not an exceptional talent. But she has been built up as remarkable with unjustified expectations. News media has not helped.
There are many players of her standard and some of a better standard on the tour at present. She cannot recreate that magical moment of 3 years ago. But she does not feel able to grind it out like other pros.
She wants to go home all the time. I think she has an attitude problem. She does not like the life of a touring pro. Because she has a mental problem with this lifestyle and being on the road all the time, I think she will never recreate that past magic.
“I was maybe a bit slow starting,” she said. “Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play, a little bit more before coming into the US Open.
"You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good. You feel like everything's automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it. And you know my manage my schedule slightly differently.”
What she is saying here contradicts what she said a couple of months ago. Confused I'd say. She'll have to accept that she is a middle-ranking pro and grind it out. She can't accept that. I predict an early retirement.
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