One of the most prestigious figures in the world of women’s tennis has urged Emma Raducanu to ignore the criticism she faces.
Billie Jean King, who co-founded the WTA Tour and won 12 Grand Slam singles titles during her career, spoke about the Brit during an interview with Sky Sports. Raducanu stunned the sport in 2021 by coming through three rounds of qualifying en route to winning the US Open title without dropping a set. However, since then she has not reached another final on the Tour.
Raducanu’s progress in recent months has been hampered by injury setbacks. She is currently sidelined from action after undergoing hand and ankle surgery. On top of that, she has worked with numerous coaches but has yet to find one on a long-time basis. Something that she has been criticised for by some.
It remains to be seen if the 20-year-old will return to the top of her game. However, King believes the most important thing Raducanu needs to do is focus on herself. The two have met each other before with King being the person who presented the tennis star with the US Open trophy.
“I just know it’s gotten tough for her, I just hope that she’ll be alright because it’s tough,” King told Sky Sports. “If you want to be a professional athlete, it’s tough. And you’ve got to learn not to listen to criticism, you got to learn all these things and that’s why I say don’t take anything personally because once you learn that, you’re okay. And if people are bullying you on social media you’ve got to stop looking at it or get some way to finish up, it’s really important.”
Raducanu hasn’t played a competitive match since her first round loss to Jelena Ostapenko at the Stuttgart Open. So far this season, she has won five out of 10 matches played with her best result being a run to the fourth round in Indian Wells.
“I hope she continues to play, I hope she gets over injuries and comes back and really does well in tennis and particularly in the US Open because she’s won that one now, and the way she won it is still amazing, so I hope she keeps playing,” King added.
Meanwhile, Raducanu’s agent told The Tennis Podcast earlier this week that he is confident the tennis player can become a formidable force in the sport once again. However, Max Eisenbud has doubts that she will be at the top for an extensive period.
“You don’t just accidentally win the US Open the way she did, you have to be great to do what she did,” he said.
“And I think she will settle and things will get more calm for her and I think she’ll make more deep runs and I think that she’ll win more Grand Slams when it’s all said and done.”
“Do I think that she will be in the top five of the world for 20 years?
“I don’t think so, I don’t think she’s that but I think she will win more Grand Slams, I think she will compete to be in the top when things settle down.”
Raducanu is currently ranked 131st in the world and is the British No.3.
