As US Open defence begins, Raducanu is cool, calm and collected: ‘Just going to do things my way’

Raducanu shot into the spotlight a year ago as first ever qualifier to win the US Open

Monday 29 August 2022, 11:36 UK

Emma Raducanu (Photo: US Open / Screengrab)

They are qualities that young Briton Emma Raducanu has exuded since she hurtled into the public eye a year ago: Mature beyond her years, calm, composed, collected.

Time and again since Wimbledon in 2021, when she reached the fourth round at the age of 18 and ranked just 350, she has sat before the media and found concise, considered, and intelligent answers to the ever-growing number of journalists.

It is understandable: her ascent to the top and into the headlines was meteoric. Fourteen months ago, she played—and lost—her first main-tour match, on home turf in Nottingham. She had only just taken her A level exams, but then all at once was playing the main draw at Wimbledon with a wild card. There, she became the youngest British woman to reach the fourth round in the Open era, before she was forced to retire in the second set against Ajla Tomljanovic.

By August, the teenager had reached the final of the WTA125 in Chicago, and her rise to 150 in the ranks earned her entry to qualifying at the US Open.

By now, Raducanu had received top-grade results from those exams, but she seemed to take it all in her stride, and promptly sailed through qualifying to the main draw without dropping a set.

From there, it was as though her run to the final was pre-ordained. She did not face a seed until the quarters after Shelby Rogers put out the top seed and favourite, Ash Barty. Then Raducanu dismissed the in-form Olympic gold medallist and No11 seed, Belinda Bencic, and No18-ranked Maria Sakkari.

Finally, she put out fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez to become the first qualifier, man or woman, to lift a Major trophy. And she had won all 10 matches without dropping a set, or even facing a tie-break.

And while the Arthur Ashe arena is as iconic a tennis scene as any in the world, Raducanu had soaked it up as though born to it, relishing every moment of her journey.

Ahead of that final, she said:

“I think honestly being young, there is an element of you do play completely free. But I’m sure that when I’m older or have more experience, the same will happen to me. I think the tables will turn. Some younger players will come through.”

The victory earned her a life-changing $2.5 million in prize money, took her to No23 in the ranks, and even earned the congratulations of HRH the Queen.

Many first-time Major champions have talked about the difficulty of adapting to such a turning point in their careers, to how they are perceived by fellow players, to the never-ending attention of fans and media: Simply, the pressures and expectations that follow such a ground-breaking achievement.

There were gala appearances, cover features, and the big-name sponsors rolled in: Porsche, Tiffany, Dior, British Airways, HSBC.

However, the young Briton, her family and close circle had their heads firmly screwed on. She went on to take bold decisions about changes to her coaching set-up: she has currently settled on Dmitry Tursunov.

And while her results certainly did not set the world alight in the intervening year between New York 2021 and the start of her defence this week, she maintained her assured demeanour in the face of numerous niggling physical issues such as blisters, and minor pulls to her leg, back and side.

By this month’s US Open Series, she had edged to the top 10, picking up wins where she had none last year. However, that scenario changes in New York, where she has big points to defend and the potential to face a big drop in her ranking if she loses early in the coming fortnight.

Yet facing the media in the Big Apple for the first time since she left as victor, that now-familiar pragmatism has been to the fore:

“I think you guys are probably thinking more about pressure and ranking than me. I think that defending a title is just something that the press makes up. I’m just taking it one match at a time. Every single player is very capable in this draw. I just focus on what I’m doing, my own trajectory. As I said last year, I’m just going to do things my way.”

She could not hide her joy at being back in New York, though. She grinned as she recalled:

“The first thing you see, when you get out the car here, [is] walking into the gate. The last memory I have of it is, 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. It worked well that day.”

Understatement, for sure: It worked very well, as it had for three weeks. But she then assessed how that result had impacted her life on the tour since.

“Biggest thing I think is maybe, like, a lot of people around. That’s probably one thing that’s changed. Before I could do whatever I wanted, be left to it.”

“Now, more so, there’s a lot of people around me at all times. It’s something that just comes with what I do. I think I adjusted to it throughout the year, but it’s part of the sport, part of what I do, so no complaints.”

This year, she continues to try and keep things close-knit: Her entourage comprises coach Tursunov, her physio, her mother and her agent. By the standards of some of the top stars at the Majors, it is a modest group, but clearly one that she trusts and that gives her confidence. She has, after all, shown throughout the last year that she is a clever young woman who is happy to follow her instincts—and now has the experience of a year on the tennis roller-coaster.

She will, too, need every ounce of that experience. She has been drawn into the top half of the draw, and into a tough eighth with others who have found themselves thrust into the limelight following first Major titles: Naomi Osaka and Elena Rybakina.

Raducanu’s quarter also contains former runners-up in New York, Karolina Pliskova and Victoria Azarenka—against whom she scored a dominant win a fortnight ago in Cincinnati—plus former semi-finalists Bencic and Aryna Sabalenka. She also happens to be in the half topped by No1 Iga Swiatek.

One senses that none of this will faze the Briton as she begins her campaign at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday evening, on Louis Armstrong. As she said, of the impact of her final against fellow teen Fernandez last year:

“Maybe before [us], there was this stigma that only the top few players could do it. But I think what we achieved shows that anything can happen, really.”