Emma Raducanu only has herself to blame for early US Open exit
By Lee Vowell
Emma Raducanu has one career title and that was at the 2021 US Open. That was a strange run as Raducanu did not lose a set nor did she play a player seeded higher than 11. In other words, while winning a tennis tournament is easy, the Brit had one of the easiest paths to a title one could hope for.
Since 2021, Raducanu has struggled with injuries - she has had surgery on both wrists and one ankle - and form. She has not been awful this year but she has not made the final of a tournament either. Her problem has mostly been not choosing to play qualifiers at events to try to get into the main field, especially recently.
Raducanu was supposedly focusing on her singles career too. This was never more evident than when she pulled out of playing mixed doubles at Wimbledon which put an end to Andy Murray's career at the grass-court major. But the question is, what exactly has Raducanu been truly focusing on?
Emma Raducanu might need to review how much she wants to play tennis
She chose not to play at the Olympics and instead wanted to work on getting her ranking higher. She managed to participate in the Citi Open but lost in the quarterfinals. She did not play at the Cincinnati Open because she would have had to go through qualifiers. She did not choose to play in any smaller events as a lead-up to the US Open.
Next. How to watch and stream the 2024 US Open. How to watch and stream the 2024 US Open. dark
A rusty Raducanu played Sofia Kenin in the first round of the final Grand Slam tournament of the year and lost in three sets. Kenin was clearly the better player overall. The American has had a decent career, but she has had an atrocious 2024. She did not win a match from mid-January to late April.
Raducanu, even though she could not have been in great playing shape, still should have had enough talent to win the match. Now, though, she can go back to focusing on making her sponsors happy or whatever she is doing when she is not playing tennis. Her priority on playing tennis certainly is not very high on her list of things to do.
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