By Martyn Herman
(Reuters) – Emma Raducanu’s fairytale staged against a backdrop of New York’s skyscrapers catapulted the British teenager’s career into the stratosphere but reality has hit home in the past 12 months.
Her charge from obscurity to the U.S. Open title as a 150th-ranked qualifier still feels barely credible, even as the 19-year-old returns to Flushing Meadows as reigning champion.
It was a story that defied tennis logic, transcended sport and instantly made her one of the most marketable athletes — male or female — in the world.
The trouble is, the tennis treadmill never stops and while Raducanu has been dealing with the inevitable spin-offs of her unlikely Grand Slam title, her results have been modest.
It should not really have come as a surprise as, in tennis terms, Raducanu is still very much a novice.
Various changes to her coaching set-up, a succession of niggling injuries and poor form have all contributed to a mediocre year so far with 13 wins and 15 losses.
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Raducanu made herself a target and with the pool of talent running so deep in the women’s game, there has been no shortage of players ready to knock Britain’s Queen Emma off her throne.
“I think that by her winning, she’s opened up a can of worms,” seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander, previewing the tournament for Eurosport, said on Tuesday.
“It used to be maybe five to 10 players that literally believe they could win (a Slam). And I think now you’ve got 50 players that think they can win it because of what Emma did and that makes it much harder.”
Raducanu has taken the knocks well. There have been no tantrums, no excuses. She insists she is still learning her game and coming to terms with the physical demands of life on Tour.
But she will be hoping that the lights of the Big Apple can inspire another magical fortnight, even if whatever happens could never live up to 2021 when she won 10 matches in New York without dropping a set, culminating in beating fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in the final.
There have been encouraging signs in recent weeks that her free-flowing game is coming together.
In a blockbuster opening match at Cincinnati she beat 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6-4 6-0 and then trounced former world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-0 6-2.
Admittedly both of those illustrious opponents were shadows of their former selves and defeat by American top-10 opponent Jessica Pegula was perhaps a better indication of exactly where Raducanu’s game is at heading to New York.
“I think that I achieved something great (by winning the U.S. Open), but I was playing completely free. I’m starting to do that again,” Raducanu said last week.
“I feel like I’m swinging with the same sort of freedom as I probably had last year.
“I feel like I’m heading in a good direction again.”
Everything happened so fast for Raducanu that she has not enjoyed the luxury of quietly developing her game behind the scenes. Opponents now know exactly what to expect.
But there is no way you can fluke a U.S. Open title and anyone dismissing Raducanu as a serious threat again would be misguided. If she is swinging freely and the serve functions as it did last year, a compelling sequel could be in the making.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
