Tennis superstar Emma Raducanu says she’s “very proud” of her resilience over the past 12 months. She also says she has dealt with some “intense” media attention since her US Open win.
Raducanu stunned the sporting world in 2021 when she won the US Open as an unseeded qualifier. She then shot up the rankings and was saddled with the expectation to become the ‘next big thing’ in tennis.
Earlier this year, the 20-year-old beat legend Serena Williams in the Cincinnati Masters Round of 64.
However, she also saw herself slipping in the rankings, being plagued with various injuries, and has also had tales of coaches leaving her camp hit the national press.
Emma Raducanu talks about resilience and keeping healthy
In an interview with SheerLuxe, Raducanu admitted that this year she’s “faced quite a bit of adversity,”
“Professionally speaking, I’m very proud of my resilience this year,” she continued. “So much stuff is said about me that isn’t true, but I try to not let it affect me.
“This past year has meant getting used to that side of things – the publicity and hearing all these things I never even knew about myself! The attention on the tour is so intense,” Raducanu said.
Elsewhere in the interview, the tennis player said that in 2023 she wants to remain injury-free and fit, “I just want to stay healthier for longer,”
“This year, the demands of the tour, going from having no training or stamina to being thrown into competing at the top level, my body has struggled. So, I’ll be working hard to keep my body in good shape and improving,” she told the lifestyle publication.
When is Emma Raducanu’s next tennis tournament?
When asked when we could next see her in action, she said that although “everything’s wrapped up in terms of tour finals… I’m going to Abu Dhabi for an exhibition match on December 16th.
“It’s not an actual tournament but I’ve been out of the game for two months with a wrist injury, so it’ll be interesting to see where I’m at with that.”
However, despite having an injury-prone 2022, Raducanu said that she loves, “the feeling of pushing myself to the max. That feeling when you think you’re at your limit and then you push a little bit further… It gives me such satisfaction.”
Raducanu’s next tennis tournament will be the Australian Open which takes place between Monday 16 Sunday 29 January 2023.
Feature image credit: Getty Images
