NEW YORK – Emma Raducanu ended practice for the U.S. Open on Friday with a confrontation with a young girl she had asked her fans on social media to help her find after they were unable to connect a day earlier.
Raducanu is back in the tournament she won unexpectedly three years ago, and she is ignoring questions about whether she has played enough matches to be ready.
Her 2021 US Open title is still Raducanu’s only one on the WTA Tour, and she didn’t even play at Flushing Meadows last year due to injuries. The 21-year-old Englishwoman has played fewer than 30 matches this year and missed opportunities to be more active, but she has no doubts about her preparation for the final Grand Slam of the season.
“Even when I won the US Open, I only played a few tournaments that year,” Raducanu said. “Yes, they were closer together, but I’m not in a hurry to play them. I think I prefer to focus on tournaments and play the tournaments I’m registered for.”
After being eliminated in the fourth round of her home Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon in July, Raducanu decided not to take part in the Olympic Games and took part in the North American hard court tour only once, losing in the third round in Washington.
She decided not to play in Canada – where she was born and holds a passport – and then opted to return to the UK to train rather than try to play in more tournaments before returning to New York, where she will face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the first round.
While some players crave playing time, Raducanu says it’s just not their thing.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be the player who plays 30 tournaments a year,” she said. “I don’t think that’s my style. It never has been.”
She was unable to play many matches in 2023, missing the second half of the year after undergoing surgery on both wrists and an ankle. Her only US Open appearance after becoming the first player to advance through qualifying and win a Grand Slam tournament in 2021 was a first-round loss to Alize Cornet the following year.
Raducanu said she felt better prepared to play in New York this time around and did some extra training on Friday with a 7-year-old fan who had watched her a day earlier and shouted to her that Raducanu was her favorite player. Raducanu later apologized on social media that she had to leave after training and they couldn’t meet, and asked her followers to help her find the girl.
She did this on Friday and invited the fan to play with her on the court.
“She hardly missed a ball and she has a lot of courage to go out on the court where a lot of people are watching and hit balls. It was nice to meet her and talk to her,” said Raducanu. “Of course I felt incredibly bad about yesterday, but I feel good and I’m glad I was able to get in touch with her today.”
Raducanu knows critics of her career choices question whether she’s ready to win the US Open. Seeing her name on the trophy and her picture among the champions on the grounds reminds her that she’s done it – and can do it again.
“I think it’s an incredible achievement and I accomplished it in these two weeks,” she said. “Now when I come back here, I have a completely different mindset and just joy and hope, and that inspires me to want to do more.”
