Emma Raducanu Admits to Using Andre Agassi’s Autobiography ‘Open’ to Get Out of Slump: “It Was So Relatable”

Emma Raducanu has not competed in a tournament since losing the Queen’s Club Championships final to Donna Vekic. She has been sidelined since then due to a lower right leg stress fracture, which forced her to skip Wimbledon as well as the US Open.

Since her historic run at the 2021 US Open, which she wrapped up in her favor, Raducanu has not yet added another tour-level title to her trophy cabinet. The reasons are her injury battles and form issues.

The former World No.10 is on the verge of dropping out of the top 100 as she currently sits in 89th spot in the rankings table. In spite of her on-court struggles, Raducanu is one of the most recognizable faces in tennis, thanks to her commercial appeal. She is one of the global ambassadors for Uniqlo, and recently gave an interview to the brand, during which, she revealed that she has been using Andre Agassi‘s autobiography ‘Open‘ in an attempt to end her slump.

I recently read former tennis player Andre Agassi’s autobiography Open and Matt Haig’s novel The Midnight Library. Open describes what Agassi was up to and how he built his career in startling detail. I was especially intrigued by the passage where he got out of his slump in the late 1990s by creating his own training regimen and finding his way back to the top.

Agassi, the former eight-time Grand Slam champion, laid bare not just his professional but also his emotional and mental struggles. Since the very first chapter, he did not shy away from admitting that he had a love-hate relationship with tennis, that “I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion and always have.“

It speaks in depth about his early successes and the lows he reached, perhaps as a result of them. A lot of it was so relatable. 

Emma Raducanu added

Raducanu was expected to return to the tour on the Asian swing for the China Open, but her name is no longer on the entry list. The WTA 1000 event in Beijing is scheduled to start on September 30. Raducanu made her debut in the tournament last year and lost in the third round.

Amanda Anisimova will enter the tournament as the defending champion. Last year, she defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.

On the men’s side, World No.1 Jannik Sinner will compete as the defending champion. He defeated Learner Tien last year. The five-time Grand Slam champion, in fact, will play his first tournament since defending his crown at Wimbledon. A knee injury forced him to withdraw from the Cincinnati Masters as well as the US Open.

Emma Raducanu on her goals for the next few years

During that interview with Uniqlo, Emma Raducanu revealed that after her retirement, she wants to be an art curator in her own gallery. But Raducanu, at present, is an athlete, so she will be focusing more on her tennis, but without obsessing over results.

Athletes have such short careers. I’m going to keep doing my best and enjoying the process to the fullest. Of course I have concrete goals, but what matters most is focusing on each day at a time. If you obsess over results and put too much pressure on yourself, things tend not to go so well!

Raducanu, following her 2021 US Open win, has played two finals, both this season. She lost the Transylvania Open to Sorana Cirstea before losing the Queen’s Club Championships to Donna Vekic.

So far this season, the 23-year-old has played just 21 matches. In Grand Slams, she crashed out after losing the second round of the Australian Open, while at the French Open, her run ended in the first round.

Also read: Grigor Dimitrov Feels the Same Way as Novak Djokovic: “A Part of Me Left with Roger and Rafa”