Ex-ATP Player Slams Emma Raducanu for Prioritizing Individual Career by Skipping Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, ended another season without ending her title drought.

Ex-ATP Player Slams Emma Raducanu for Prioritizing Individual Career by Skipping Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Emma Raducanu (Image via X/British Tennis Players)

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Emma Raducanu wanted to prioritize working with coach Francisco Roig for her development. And this is why she skipped the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Britain reached the semifinals after defeating Japan. But in the last four, they fell to eventual runner-up United States, who lost to Italy in the final. His withdrawal did not go down well with former ATP player John Lloyd, for whom representing the country in the Davis Cup or the Billie Jean King Cup is the highest form of honor for a player. Lloyd said on Mitch Michals Podcast:

Look what has happened in the Billie Jean King Cup, which has also become a farce in that way. Emma Raducanu of Great Britain had a chance for the first time to possibly win it. She pulls out of it and says she wants to spend more time with the new coach and get ready for the next season or ranking points. I am thinking, are you kidding me? When is it not a privilege to play for your country? Where has the game come to now, where players are saying it’s the end of the season?

The Billie Jean King Finals was held from September 16 to 19, following which, the Asian swing started. Raducanu featured in four tournaments but failed to make deep runs. She ended her season following her defeat in the opening round of the Ningbo Open.

The Brit has yet to win a title since her fairytale run at the 2021 US Open. Since that win, Raducanu was successful in winning four consecutive matches in a single tournament- at the Miami Open, where she suffered defeat at the hands of eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals. Raducanu will be skipping an exhibition tournament in the US next month due to a foot problem.

John Lloyd on Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti’s Davis Cup withdrawal

Like Emma Raducanu, two men’s players, Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, also prioritized their respective individual tennis careers and received criticism from John Lloyd. In that aforementioned podcast, Lloyd said choosing rest ahead of representing their country is beyond belief.

Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti (via X/The Tennis Letter)

But Musetti and Sinner did not play because of physical reasons. They basically said that they wanted a rest and they wanted to prepare for next year. That to me is beyond belief. That’s where the Davis Cup has come now. That never would have happened [in my era].

Musetti and Sinner have been non-stop tennis, which finally ended at the ATP Finals. Musetti was able to make his debut after the last-minute withdrawal of Novak Djokovic, against whom he lost the Hellenic Championship final.

The 23-year-old failed to reach the semifinals. He suffered defeats at the hands of Taylor Fritz and Carlos Alcaraz, and beat Alex de Minaur.

Sinner, on the other hand, ended up wrapping up the ATP Finals in his favor by beating Alcaraz. The six-time Grand Slam champion reached the championship clash of the ATP Finals for the first time but couldn’t beat Sinner, who defended his crown as well as pocketed the highest prize money in the tournament’s history, $5.071 million.

Alcaraz, however, finished the season as No.1 thanks to his collection of eight titles from 11 finals, including two Majors he won at the French Open and the US Open. Musetti has yet to win a trophy since lifting his career’s second title at the 2022 Tennis Napoli Cup.

Since that win, Musetti has played six finals, three last year and three this year. This season, apart from the Hellenic Championship, Musetti played the title clashes of the Monte Carlo Masters and the Ningbo Open, losing them to Alcaraz and Alejandro Tabilo, respectively.

Also read: Tallon Griekspoor Rejects Dutch Minister’s Call to Quit Russia Exhibition Amid Controversy