Former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu said she sometimes wishes she had not won the Grand Slam due to the pressure that came with the success and instant fame.
The then 18-year-old surged out of nowhere to win the 2021 tournament in style, without dropping a single set during the nine matches she played before the final, but could not follow up on that success due to recurrent injuries.
“That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment,” Raducanu told the Sunday Times.
“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 U.S. Open.”
The win came with praise but also exposed Raducanu to a previously unknown world, often ruthless and paved with expectations.
“I had to mature very quickly. When I won I was extremely naive,” Raducanu said.
“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. It has been difficult to navigate. I have been burnt a few times. I have learnt, keep your circle as small as possible.”
Raducanu missed this year’s French Open and will be absent from Wimbledon too while she recovers from surgery on her wrists and ankle.
“The pain escalated last summer after Wimbledon,” she said.
“I started with a new coach and I was really motivated to get going. We were overtraining… and I carried on even through pain because I didn’t want to be perceived as weak.”
Raducanu is currently without a coach after splitting with Sebastian Sachs.