“I am very zoned in” Emma Raducanu responds to Eddie Jones’ comments about distraction
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Emma Raducanu
Teenage sensation Emma Raducanu has had an unbelievable year. From starting the year as just another player in the crowd to ending it as grandslam champion, the teenager has seen it all. She broke into the tennis scene at Wimbledon this year, where she reached the fourth round. Her big moments of glory came in New York, when she became the first qualifier to win a grand slam. Raducanu lifted the US Open trophy without dropping a set!
With such incredible achievement, came newfound stardom; from being invited to the Met Gala and movie premieres to being featured on the cover of Vogue. All of this led to Eddie Jones, England’s rugby coach to criticizing her for distraction. Jones faced a lot of backlash for his comments, being called sexist and ridiculous.
Emma Raducanu’s lows after the US Open
After her win at the Flushing Meadows, Emma Raducanu proceeded to take part in the Indian Wells tournament. Here, she lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets in the first round. Her next appearance was at the Transylvania Open where she Marta Kostyuk in straight sets in the quarterfinals. This week, she appeared at the Linz Open in Austria, losing to qualifier Wang Xinyu 1-6 7-6 5-7 in the second round. Since her grand slam win, which was also her maiden WTA title, Raducanu has won 2 and lost 3 matches.
Emma Raducanu: The Eddie Jones controversy
Earlier this week, England’s rugby coach Eddie Jones made headlines when he advised upcoming rugby player Marcus Smith to focus on his game. What irked people was that he used the teenage Raducanu to make his point. He said “The big thing for good young players is distractions. The distractions could be the exposure they get in the media, the praise they get, the criticism they get. There can be groups of agents who see this guy as the next big thing. There’s a reason why the girl who won the U.S. Open hasn’t done so well afterward.
What have you seen her on? The front page of Vogue, the front page of Harper’s Bazaar, whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes. He is grounded, but they all start off grounded. No one starts with their feet off the ground or they don’t get in the team, or they don’t win a U.S. Open. But there’s this flood of distractions that comes in that makes you ungrounded”.
From the straight-up disregard for Emma’s achievement to not remembering her name, all the problematic things in his statement were called out by fans and critics. Tennis commentator David Law called Jones sexist and irresponsible.
“I just know I’m staying focused” Emma Raducanu’s response to Eddie Jones’ comments
Emma Raducanu was finally asked to respond to Jones comments. The Brit, who broke into the WTA Top 20 rankings this week said “I don’t really know what this is about, I think that many people are going to have opinions of me and what I’m doing”. She further added “I just know I’m staying focused with a small circle around me. I have my parents, who would 100 percent let me know if I was getting swayed. I am very zoned in”.
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Aradhana Nayak
(189 Articles Published)