Eugenie Bouchard Shares Reason Behind Emma Raducanu’s Struggles After US Open Win

Emma Raducanu withdrew from the Miami Open, where she reached the quarterfinals last year.

Eugenie Bouchard Shares Reason Behind Emma Raducanu’s Struggles After US Open Win

Emma Raducanu and Eugenie Bouchard (Image via X/The Telegraph)

In Short
  • Eugenie Bouchard highlights the immense pressure on Emma Raducanu following her US Open victory.
  • Tim Henman emphasizes the need for Raducanu to improve her physical resilience to avoid injuries.
  • Raducanu withdrew from the Miami Open, needing to defend points from her quarterfinal run last year.

Because Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open at the age of 19 as a qualifier without dropping a set, a lot more such results were expected from her. But the Brit has since failed to live up to the hype.

Former player Eugenie Bouchard had also found herself in similar spotlight when she finished as a runner-up at the 2014 Wimbledon. En route to getting dismantled by Petra Kvitova, the Canadian did not drop a set and became the first player from the country to reach a Grand Slam singles final on the WTA Tour.

Because Bouchard had been in a similar situation, she understands what Raducanu has been dealing with since that fairytale run. Bouchard feels early success has put the 23-year-old on the receiving end of huge expectations from the tennis world. She pointed out that injuries, form issues, and other things can change how the player performs. She told The Telegraph:

[People think], ‘When are you going to win another one? Now you’re going to win one a year for the next 10 years.’ And it just doesn’t work like that.

Bouchard played her career’s last tour-level event in last year’s Canadian Open. She reached the second round and lost to Belinda Bencic.

Apart from her Wimbledon run, Bouchard made two more Grand Slam semifinals (at the 2014 Australian Open and French Open). Raducanu, since that lone Major triumph, has reached one Grand Slam fourth round (2024 Wimbledon). Last year, she made the third round thrice in Majors, while this year at the Australian Open, her run ended in the second round. She lost to Anastasia Potapova in straight sets.

Tim Henman urges Emma Raducanu to improve physically

The one area where Raducanu needs the most improvement is in her physicality, according to compatriot Tim Henman. On Sky Sport, Henman analyzed Raducanu’s Indian Wells third-round defeat to Amanda Anisimova and said that if she gets stronger, she can keep the injuries that she frequently suffers at bay.

Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu (Image via X/British Tennis Players)

For me, the glaring area that she needs to improve on is physically. It was highlighted in her match against Anisimova. She’s never going to be as big a ball striker as Anisimova, and the physicality that she brings to the court is obviously intimidating, as these top players are, but that’s where I think Raducanu needs to be physically stronger. She needs more physical resilience, so she doesn’t get the little injuries that put her away from the court.

In this year’s Transylvania Open, the one-time Grand Slam champion reached the final and lost the title to Sorana Cirstea. It was her best run since that US Open triumph.

They stop her from building the momentum on the match court. Off the court, mainly, but again, you can still do a lot of physical work on the court. Whether it’s two on one when you’re hitting and moving and building up that physical resilience, to get stronger, to get faster, to hit the ball harder, to serve bigger. If I could pinpoint one area, it would most definitely be physicalness.

Tim Henman added

Raducanu was scheduled to play the Miami Open, but she ended up withdrawing from it. She had 215 points to defend, given that she reached the quarterfinals last year and lost to eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula. It was her best run in a WTA 1000 event.

The main draw of the second Sunshine Doubles tournament is underway at the Hard Rock Stadium. Aryna Sabalenka will enter the event as the defending champion and will also be bidding to complete the Sunshine Doubles.

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