Emma Raducanu, here’s how it really went down and why it was all so different than before: unexpected confession.
The unexpected withdrawal from the Miami Masters 1000 was a cold shower. Yet another one, to tell the truth, for supporters of the beautiful Emma Raducanu, who has been struggling with frequent injuries, false starts and inevitable stops for the past year.
The 2021 Us Open winner said she was ready, finally, to regain the continuity she had been missing. She said she was in no hurry and didn’t want to rush things so she wouldn’t have to stop again. But something, apparently, did not go her way. Not the way she wanted, at least. And this, in an inevitable way, has rekindled the spotlight on the pressures suffered by this very young girl, who overnight found herself dealing with a situation bigger than herself.
The reference is precisely to that extraordinary victory at Flushing Meadows, which certainly changed her life but, in some respects, not in a positive way. It fits that she may have felt overwhelmed by the too many expectations placed on her after that triumph in New York. In may reason because that exploit was unfortunately not followed by performances worthy of a Slam champion. But she is not to blame for any of this.
Emma Raducanu, social under indictment: all their fault
Explaining what really happened to Raducanu after that magical Us Open was her agent, Max Eisenbud, who in the past has stood by another world-renowned star, namely the unforgettable Maria Sharapova.
“Twenty years ago Sharapova won Wimbledon and our lives changed,” he said on Andy Roddick’s podcast, “A different case than Raducanu who came out of nowhere, because Sharapova came to that tournament as the number 13 seed. When I think of Maria’s victory, I say ‘Thank God there was no social media.’ Emma couldn’t catch her breath after that victory,” she noted, “everything happened so fast. With Sharapova we were able to become aware of what was happening.”
Hence, presumably, the aforementioned pressure, the rush for results-which did not come-from a very young and still immature girl who could not meet everyone’s expectations. Too fast, too much noise. And who knows if sweet Emma will be able, sooner or later, to find her way again without anyone expecting her to repeat the success of 2021.
