Tennis champion Emma Raducanu says she sometimes regrets her US Open victory under the pressure of instant fame

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has said she sometimes wishes she hadn’t won the Grand Slam because of the pressure of success and instant fame.

The 18-year-old then came out of nowhere to Win the 2021 tournament in stylewithout dropping a single set in the nine matches she played before the final, but was unable to follow up on that success due to recurring injuries.

“At that moment, on the pitch, as I was celebrating my victory, I thought to myself that I would literally trade any fight in the world for that moment,” Raducanu told the Sunday Times.

“Since then, I have experienced many setbacks, one after the other.

The victory was accompanied by praise, but it also exposed Raducanu to a previously unknown world, often unforgiving and full of expectations.

“I had to mature very quickly. When I won, I was extremely naive,” Raducanu said.

“What I’ve realized over the last two years, touring and everything that goes with it, is that it’s not a very nice, trusting, safe space.

“You have to be careful because there are a lot of sharks out there.

“It was hard to navigate. I got caught out a few times. I learned to keep your circle as small as possible.”

Raducanu missed the French Open this year and will also miss Wimbledon while she recovers from wrist and ankle surgery.

“The pain intensified last summer after Wimbledon,” she said.

“I started with a new coach and I was really motivated to get started. We were training too much… and I kept going through the pain because I didn’t want to be seen as weak.”

Raducanu is currently without a coach after parting ways with Sebastian Sachs.

Reuters