It did not augur well that Emma Raducanu stumbled as she stepped up onto a high stool to discuss the tennis summer stretching out ahead.
She regained her poise and laughed, though injury setbacks have become such a part of the story since her rapid and brief journey to the top of tennis that a plain plastic seat might have been more prudent.
She’s back at the Nottingham Open, where the quality of her performance on the grass in a first-round defeat by fellow Brit Harriet Dart, three years ago, earned her the Wimbledon wildcard which was a preface to the unimaginable. Three exhilarating performances at SW19 that summer and a fortnight at Flushing Meadows which seems like a distant dream now.
When she struggled to live up to the champion’s billing, and the world No 10 ranking, which had brought Porsche, Dior and a galaxy of other brands to her door, this tournament seemed like a place to rebuild two years ago. But Raducanu was seven games into her first-round match with Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic when pain in her left side left her flat out on the court and it was all over.
She says she is stronger now and she certainly cut a more optimistic and personable figure on Monday than the troubled individual who reflected here, back then, that the US Open had brought difficulties in its wake.
Emma Raducanu is looking to bounce back after her recent career has been ravaged by injury
Raducanu underwent surgery on both of her wrists last year following continual pain
But it remains to be seen how committed the 21-year-old is to returning to the top of the sport
‘I’m sort of doing the work from now because I did it a bit backwards,’ she said here in 2022. This time, she reflected on having three virtually simultaneous operations — on both wrists and her left ankle — which reduced her to propelling herself around her home on a mobility scooter, this time last year.
‘I couldn’t be on crutches because I’d had two wrist surgeries, so I had a cast on one hand, a splint on the other and my ankle was also pretty much immobilised, in a splint and stitches,’ she said. ‘So I would just scooter around with one knee. It’s pretty much a year ago to this day. As someone who is so active, it’s difficult to shut your body down. To be healthy and to be here, I need to cherish it. So, thanks for reminding me to do that.’
How much the 21-year-old actually cherishes what tennis has brought her is difficult to discern, though.
It is a time of the year when we hear British players speak of this surface being the best of the best and these early summer months being the highlight of their year.
But Raducanu reflected that ‘a fast, slick hard court’ was her preference. She described how tournaments’ use of heavier, fluffier balls were a concern for players with wrist trouble, like her, and that grass, where ‘the conditions are pretty heavy and the balls are pretty heavy’, was ‘notorious’ in this respect.
It rather made you wonder how much Raducanu — still sixth in the last Forbes rich list of tennis players, with nearly £12million earned off-court and £235,000 on it this year — will really want and need this, if she does not rediscover her golden touch this year. The world is at her feet, regardless of tennis. The fabulous riches are hers.
Those who have watched her closely at courtside describe how the power, depth and accuracy of her hitting is still there.
It was particularly evident at Indian Wells in April, when she found the best of her game, even in a third-round defeat by world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka. But these peaks have been spasmodic and temporary.
Raducanu has shown glimpses of the ability that took her to the top of the sport, such as in a spirited defeat to Aryna Sabalenka in April
But maintaining that highest of all performance levels consistently has eluded her
After a narrow quarter-final loss in Stuttgart to Iga Swiatek, the world No 1, came a comprehensive defeat by Argentinian qualifier Maria Lourde Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open in April. Raducanu has won three matches in a tournament just four times on the WTA tour.
Her struggle to find her range in Madrid, with unforced errors piling up off both wings, left the impression that she needed to get back to doing the basics, playing in some of the numerous lower-level European WTA 125 events — from Brescia to Gdansk, San Diego to Taipei — to find her way back from a world ranking which took her to 303 and is now at 209.
But with so many wildcards bestowed on her from significant WTA events, the far-flung places have not been for her. Raducanu’s decision to pass on trying to qualify for Roland Garros, after the French Open decided to offer its own players a wildcard instead, contributed to the impression that unglamorous hard yards are of no appeal.
Raducanu justified her absence from France as a necessary decision, which would enable her to be in prime condition for the grass and hard court seasons.
‘The back end of the year is so heavy in Asia and on the hard courts,’ she said. ‘I don’t need to rush and try to win the French Open. It wasn’t my goal.
‘I had to prioritise where I wanted to target and it was just a good block for me to get some good physical work done.’ It was put to her that some British players were doing those hard yards, grinding out ranking points in remote corners of the tennis world to qualify for WTA events. What was her message for them?
‘I think if you’re asking if I’ve played them, maybe just look at my results…’ countered Raducanu, who certainly did cover those miles before her breakthrough. ‘I guess I’ve been lucky to get out of that stage at one point. Now I am back in that (lower) ranking, but I have the privilege of having some amazing wildcard opportunities which I hope to take advantage of.
‘Me personally, I feel like I’ve worked really hard to be in the situation I’m in and yeah, there’s nothing I can do about anyone else’s situation. I can’t give them a wildcard. I mean, I don’t know what you want me to do, to be honest.’
The conversation became testy. The press conference ended suddenly, before another of the apparent conflagrations in the background — Raducanu’s reported split from boyfriend Carlo Agostinelli, son of private equity tycoon Robert Agostinelli — could be put to her.
Raducanu has also endured turmoil in her personal life, having reportedly split with partner Carlo Agostinelli
Of her more than £12m earnings last year, less than 5% came from performances on the court
The pair were spotted at Paris Fashion Week in September, but Raducanu has now blocked the former Harrow head boy from her social media with their year-long romance appearing to be at an end.
They had previously shared Instagram pictures on romantic holidays together and Raducanu was pictured having coffee this week with Carlo’s sister Heloise, a Made in Chelsea star, despite the split.
It turns out she has had very little extra preparation time on grass this past month, despite ducking out of Paris.
‘I’d have loved some more time on the grass, but it was raining pretty much every day, so we were on hard (courts) a lot of the time,’ she said. ‘But I got a few hits in, which is a few more than other people got.’
She spent some of that free time in Scotland, the perfect backdrop to promote Dior to her 2.5million social media followers and to attend the brand’s fashion show in Perthshire.
Though she revealed a visit to Drummond Castle and a run around Gleneagles had broader benefits. ‘I love greenery, I love nature,’ she said. ‘So that’s where I really feel recharged.’ Her mode of transport to Scotland is unclear, although her social media posts suggest she will have become acquainted with the latest Porsche model by now.
‘Can’t wait to meet this beauty,’ she declared, tweeting an image of the new 911 Carrera GTS, as the latter stages of the French Open were being played out.
Her decision to play less competitive tennis than other Nottingham Open competitors, like Katie Boulter, Dart and Heather Watson, who all sit above her in the rankings now, reflects Raducanu’s very substantial self-belief and how she still sees herself among the best players in the world.
She revealed that having left Scotland for Nottingham, she had been hitting with world No 10 Ons Jabeur here, playing for points. ‘Yeah, I did good,’ she said, when asked if that practice had helped her gauge where her game is at.
Jabeur made encouraging noises about the quality of Raducanu’s tennis, but did not seem entirely convinced that her extra practice time was a substitute for matches, even if they were on clay.
‘I don’t know,’ the Tunisian said. ‘I have had different experiences myself. It depends. She might have more rhythm.’
Jabeur spoke enthusiastically of the value of having had the same coaching team around her, borne out by performances which have made her a hugely popular player at Wimbledon.
Raducanu has been practicing with World No 10 Ons Jabeur ahead of the Nottingham Open
But despite her various successes she still remains without a dedicated coach at the event
Yet Raducanu arrives at yet another tournament without any sign of a dedicated coach or support operation in attendance, despite an accumulation of wealth that would make such a team comfortably affordable.
Without any such permanent fixture, Raducanu called on one of her coaches from childhood, Nick Cavaday, to work with her, though this has not always extended to a travelling arrangement. Cavaday’s absence from Nottingham, because of illness, means Raducanu is being helped by Jane O’Donoghue, another former childhood coach, who left the LTA in 2019 to work in the City as a director for the Royal Bank of Canada.
‘Nick’s a great coach and we’re still very much together. It’s just unfortunate he couldn’t make it this weekend,’ Raducanu said. ‘I’m friends with Jane. She’s been around my tennis since I was 10, she’s one of the people who knows me inside out and can read me like a book. It’s always nice to have her around.’
Raducanu and her father Ian share an ambivalence towards coaches and her promising relationship with German Sebastian Sachs ended last summer.
There was a reluctance to keep paying him while she was out of the game after the surgeries.
But it is Raducanu’s decision not to employ her own fitness and physio personnel, given her persistent physical problems, which has most baffled those who want to see her fulfil her potential.
In fact, she was more concerned with the effect of those heavier, fluffed balls on her wrists, reflecting comments made by some in the men’s game.
Raducanu can get off to the perfect start at Nottingham, but whether she will live up to her early promise remains to be seen
‘We have to change balls every single week, pretty much,’ she said. ‘They don’t regulate the ball with the conditions and they get very heavy. For me, that’s definitely a factor where I have to miss certain events. They just don’t favour my situation.’
Raducanu faces a very winnable first-round match on Tuesday against Japanese doubles specialist Ena Shibahara, whose singles ranking is a lowly 274.
Perhaps steeled in the dangers of making too many bold predictions about the future, she was hesitant about suggesting this tournament could be the same launchpad for her that it was three summers ago.
‘Well, of course, I would love to have a very good summer, but equally my first round here a few years ago wasn’t exactly the best,’ she said. ‘I’m looking forward to hopefully having a different event.’
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