Iconic Wimbledon presenter and 1977 Wimbledon semifinalist Sue Barker has offered honest advice to Emma Raducanu, telling the 21-year-old Briton to stop thinking about expectations and potential criticism and that’s when good things will probably start happening again.
When Wimbledon starts next week, it will be exactly three years since an 18-year-old Raducanu made the round-of-16 at The Championships as a wildcard. Two months after a great Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, the Briton became a Slam champion in a historic way after winning the US Open as a qualifier.
At the time – in just two months – Raducanu went from being regarded very talented player to being a tennis star and one of the most popular players in the game. But after things started going wrong for Raducanu, constant criticism started coming her way.
When Raducanu returned to Wimbledon in 2022 as a Slam champion, there was a lot of attention on her. But she didn’t do well, making only the second round before losing to Caroline Garcia in the second round. Last year, the British former world No. 10 didn’t play at Wimbledon because in May she had three surgeries.
Since Raducanu is a British player, there will be attention on her at Wimbledon but she hasn’t made it past a Grand Slam second…
