“I think there’s a bit more stress,” Naomi Osaka warns Emma Raducanu about the strenuous mental pressure that comes during the US Open title defence
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Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu‘s illustrious 2021 season was defined by her stunning US Open win. The teenage star won the title after defeating Leylah Fernandez in straight sets. She made history by becoming the first qualifier to hold the prestigious title and she did so without dropping a set en route to the final.
Jumping to the present, anxiety and pressure surrounds the teenage sensation amidst her upcoming title defence at the 2022 US Open. World No. 11, Raducanu has been vocal about the immense mental damage that is being caused by the media and experts over her defending the title. But that’s not the only thing she is worried about. The Briton could potentially drop her ranking out of the world top 80 if she is defeated in the first round against Alize Cornet.
You don’t want to have all those points taken off: Naomi Osaka discusses the added pressures on Emma Raducanu
Recently, two-time US Open champion (2018 and 2020), Naomi Osaka, discussed the dynamics of stress which are present during a title defence run. Seeing that Naomi Osaka hasn’t been able to defend the title herself in the past, she talked about the extra pressure that looms over Emma Raducanu. She said, “I definitely think there is a bit more stress when you’re defending, especially since people throw the word around.”
Osaka further explained, “You think about points and stuff. You don’t want to have all those points taken off. I definitely think it is something that’s in the back of your mind. I don’t know. You just want to replicate, like, the success that you’ve done the year prior.”
While talking about anxiety, Emma Raducanu hilariously recalled her last time in New York. She said, “When you get out of the car here, the last memory I have before the final that morning, I felt so sick in the car here. I felt so carsick. I just blamed it on being carsick. But I think I was a bit nervous, too. The whole car journey, my head was in my hands. I was like: ‘What’s going on?’ As soon as I got out of the car, I just promised myself: ‘Look, you just fake it, do whatever you can’, and it worked well that day.”
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Urvi Shrivastava
(87 Articles Published)