I guess I was right in thinking Emma Raducanu’s phenomenal success at the US Open in 2021 was nothing more than a freak – a short bout of very good luck for a young, attractive, seemingly powerful tennis player.
Here she is this week, hoping to regain her title in New York and, presumably more of the goodies that go with it, only to be out in the first round and tear up at the press conference.
That’s not the way a champion behaves, Emma. Can you imagine Martina Navratilova making excuses because she’d lost a big game? No. She’d be up and at it, straight back to a court and her trainer, ready to work her wrist to death until she knew she was up to the job next time.
Emma did have the honesty to admit she needed to ‘manage my schedule differently’.
‘I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open,’ she said after the defeat, referring to her decision not to commit to any tournaments in the weeks leading up to the US Open.
…