‘Play more tournaments, not fewer!’ Boris Becker gives a REALITY CHECK to Emma Raducanu, says she needs to learn from Rafael Nadal
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Emma Raducanu and Boris Becker
Emma Raducanu stunned the world at the US Open last year. She created history by becoming the first ever tennis player to win a major as a qualifier and did so without dropping a set. The hype around her was unreal and she soon became a household name. She was also projected as the next big thing in women’s tennis but 4 months down, she hasn’t delivered as promised.
A lot more was expected of her at the 2022 Australian Open but she lost in the second round to Danka Kovinic in three sets. She was also subjected to a lot of criticism but in general, given her age, the tennis pundits have been supportive of her. Tennis legend Boris Becker recently wrote about Emma Raducanu in the Daily Mail.
Becker said that he is a big Raducanu fan and is still convinced that she’ll win big despite her poor outing at the Australian Open. “I remain a big fan of Emma Raducanu and am still convinced that, in the long run, she has everything it takes to be a multiple winner of majors and a genuine superstar,” Becker said.
But digging deep, Becker pointed out that she had lack of preparations coming into Australia and added that Emma’s statements of taking more time to get physically stronger shocked him as he thinks she needs to play more tournaments- not less.
“Her preparations for Australia were interrupted and after her second-round defeat she was hinting that she might go back and put in some extra time training to get herself stronger. This slightly worries me because what she needs — both to improve herself physically and to become a better player — is to play more tournaments, not fewer,” he said.
He said that she needs to have a very busy schedule and should forget about majors alone and start playing as much competitive tennis as she can.
“In short, she should be planning on having a busy schedule, throwing herself into the thick of the tour and tackling the smaller and medium-sized events that make up most of the circuit. Forget the Grand Slams and what happened last year for a while, what she needs is to build up a bulk of experience and realise there is no substitute for playing matches,” Becker added.
‘You have to remember that if you are successful on court everything else will look after itself’: Becker
There has been a lot of talk about Raducanu focusing more on commercial activities than tennis and that all the attention might not be good for her. But Becker said that every successful player has to go through it- he himself went through the same stuff.
“Of course, there will be discussions about her commercial activities. It happened to me, it happened to someone like Serena and it happens to everyone who breaks through at a young age. What you have to remember is that if you are successful on court everything else will look after itself and you are going to make a lot of money,” he said.
He also mentioned that there is absolutely nothing for Emma to worry about in the long term and that she needs to learn from player like Rafael Nadal, who are still playing smaller events(Melbourne Summer Set) despite being so successful.
“There is no need for Emma to worry in the long term, she just has to get out there and play. Nadal set a good example by playing a smaller event before the Australian Open — so learn from the best,” Becker added.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)