Bhen Emma Raducanu returned to New York for the first time two years ago to defend her unprecedented 2021 US Open triumph from the qualifying rounds, it didn’t go as smoothly as she had hoped. A year of scrutiny and unwelcome pressure had taken its toll, and with her body so frail, it seemed like an injury or illness would always be just around the corner. Raducanu was eliminated miserably in the first round without winning a set.
After missing last year’s edition due to surgery, the 21-year-old now appears to be returning to Flushing Meadows in a better position than after her win.
“I feel very proud when I come here,” she says. “Every day I walk past my photo. Every day I walk past my name on the trophy. I think it’s an incredible achievement and in these two weeks I’ve accomplished it. I come back with a completely different mindset. Just joy and pride and that inspires me to want to do more.”
All summer, the British No. 2 has spoken of finding joy in tennis again, something she has long struggled to do. The results she has achieved over the past four months back up those feelings. Raducanu has reached the quarterfinals or beyond in four of her last six tour events, made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon and played a crucial role in Britain’s victory over France on clay in the Billie Jean King Cup. Now firmly back in the world’s top 100, she is playing consistently top-class tennis.
The pressing question with Raducanu is how much she is willing to play and whether she is truly ready to put in the hard work required of players to become great. She turned down an Olympics so she could start her U.S. hardcourt swing early and not have to worry about the form struggles and injury risks that come with switching surfaces.
Despite the criticism she received for this decision, it was clearly logical to plan cautiously after her injuries. While her colleagues were in Paris, Raducanu enjoyed another solid week at the WTA 500 event in Washington, reaching the quarterfinals before losing an extremely close three-set battle to the in-form Paula Badosa.
The first week of the North American hard court tour, however, is the last time Raducanu competed. After opting against qualifying for the WTA 1000 event in Montreal, she returned home and missed four weeks before competing again at the US Open. Raducanu says she missed Montreal because the turnaround had to be so quick, and she didn’t want to wait to play in qualifying for the Cincinnati Open. She noted that compared to other players, she “always did things a little bit differently.”
“I mix and match,” she says. “I don’t think I’ll ever be the player who plays almost 30 events a year. That’s not my style – it never was. Even when I was playing juniors, I only played a couple of tournaments, the Grand Slam tournaments, and then went to school. That’s how I’ve always done it.”
“Even when I won the US Open, I played very few tournaments that year. Yes, they were closer together. I’m not in a hurry to play many. I prefer to target tournaments and be ready to play the tournaments I’m registered for.”
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What is clear is that she will need to raise her level even further after being handed a difficult draw in New York. Raducanu will start against Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion who has struggled even more than Raducanu since becoming a major winner. After falling down the rankings, the Moscow-born American showed signs of her old form, defeating a number of top players. The 25-year-old has settled in at her No. 55 ranking but has been unable to find consistency.
The US Open marks a new era in British tennis, the first Grand Slam tournament since Andy Murray retired from the Olympics. Yet the absence of the country’s most revered player changes absolutely nothing for Raducanu.
“It doesn’t feel any different at all,” she said. “Tennis is unforgiving in that way. No matter who you are, it just keeps going. There’s always another match, there’s always another tournament.”
“Andy has achieved incredible things and I watched him win this tournament, but things move very quickly here, just like life. It’s like the next day it’s old news. The Brits are doing really well at the moment.”
