Emma Raducanu withdrew from the Nottingham Open shortly after losing to Donna Vekic in the Queen’s Club Championships final.
The Briton had been given a wild card to the Nottingham Open during Queen’s, where she reached her second WTA final of the season.
How far do you think Emma Raducanu will go at Wimbledon after watching her at Queen’s?
Following her withdrawal, many criticised Raducanu’s decision, and now former world number one Andy Roddick has delivered his verdict.
Andy Roddick thinks Emma Raducanu needs to start playing a busier schedule
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘, the American began by defending Raducanu.
“I need two parts of this. One is going to defend Emma [Raducanu], and the other one, I’m going to have an opinion about it,” said Roddick.
“Asking for a wild card before a quarter-final match on the assumption that you might lose that quarter-final match, and then you have four days or five days in between, is a completely rational thing to do.
“Are you suggesting that Emma should not do whatever she thinks is best for her Wimbledon preparation?
“I think I’m going to end up disagreeing with it, but it doesn’t change the fact that she should go do something that her team doesn’t think is beneficial for Wimbledon prep, or she should go play Nottingham and not give a great effort or not be motivated; who is winning with that scenario?
“And then still have to answer the criticisms, ‘Why did you take the wild card?’. There’s 70% that would bang the other side or criticise either way.
“It is a completely different scenario wanting to play Nottingham on a Wednesday of Queen’s, as an insurance policy for preparation; completely understand that.
“Now, there could be a question on, ‘Why wouldn’t you just enter it anyway and withdraw?’ whatever those conversations might be. But pretending like it’s the same conversation before a round of 16 or quarter-final match as it is after you’ve made the final and played well is idiotic.
“I understand people at Nottingham are disappointed, but this is sports. You make the best decision you can at that time. Everything might change within three days, depending on wins and losses.”
Roddick did, however, explain why Raducanu playing so few matches frustrates him.
“The one time we’ve seen Emma Raducanu play every day for three weeks in her professional life, play most days for three weeks, she produced a level that won a Grand Slam,” he said.
“This isn’t specific to Queen’s vs Nottingham, but I promise to you I know the value of winning and winning and winning and winning going into a Slam.
“I played the heaviest schedule of my life in ’03, won 12 matches in 13 days to win Masters series titles, and then played the US Open.
Andy Roddick’s US Open swing (2003)
| Tournament | Performance | Match wins |
| Canadian Open | Champion | 6 (Xavier Malisse, Juan Ignacio Chela, Sebastian Grosjean, Karol Kucera, Roger Federer, David Nalbandian) |
| Cincinnati Open | Champion | 6 (Fernando Verdasco, Ivan Ljubicic, James Blake, Mariano Zabaleta, Max Mirnyi, Mardy Fish) |
| US Open | Champion | 7 (Tim Henman, Ivan Ljubicic, Flavio Saretta, Xavier Malisse, Sjeng Schalken, David Nalbandian, Juan Carlos Ferrero) |
“I will sacrifice something a little wrong with your body, exhaustion, for confidence that you can win these big events.
“At some point, she is going to have to play a lot of tennis, not just one week.
“If I’m her coach and she’s healthy, let’s keep it going at Nottingham. If you make another semi or final, are you all of a sudden one of the top 10 favourites to win Wimbledon? Sure! It’s anyone’s game.
“She’s like, ‘I haven’t played much this year.’ I’m going; you haven’t played much any year! You’ve never played much.
“We’ve got to get to the plan at some point.
“The reason I’m passionate about this is because she’s so good; she looked great this week.”
Roddick was impressed by Raducanu’s efforts at Queen’s, as she came close to winning her first title since the 2021 US Open.
Emma Raducanu at the 2026 Queen’s Club Championships
- 1R [WIN] vs Anna Blinkova, 6-0, 6-3
- 2R [WIN] vs Sorana Cirstea, 6-4, 6-2
- QF [WIN] vs Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-3, 7-5
- SF [WIN] vs Iva Jovic, 6-2, 6-2
- F [LOSS] vs Donna Vekic, 0-6, 6-7
“Her game translates to grass, I think grass is her best surface,” he said.
“She switches direction great, she hits behind people really well. She’s able to take that forehand, and let’s not get crazy; it doesn’t mean she does it as well as this person; it means she’s capable of doing it similarly to, off that right foot, cutting the corner and coming in off the forehand side, like Roger [Federer] did. She has that play; obviously, it’s not as effective. He’s the best ever at it.
“But she volleys great, she’s serving well; if she’s not strictly getting overpowered, I don’t see her losing a lot of matches on this surface.
“People can still go through her. [Donna] Vekic largely did that, but I thought it was a great result for her.”
Raducanu isn’t the only player who has impressed Roddick on grass this year, though.
Andy Roddick doesn’t think anyone will want to play Donna Vekic or Barbora Krejcikova at Wimbledon
Roddick made sure to give Vekic, the woman who beat Raducanu in the Queen’s final, her dues.
“Donna Vekic can play on this surface, because she can control the middle of the court. It’s tough to get her sideline to sideline because you don’t have time,” he said.
“When the ball is coming hard, flat through the court and skidding, it’s tough to create angles. It’s not a coincidence that all of a sudden she shows up on grass, her game fits, she gets a couple of matches in, and she looks like Donna Vekic from two years ago.
“Her game suits the grass very well, and I was happy to see her close that one out.
“I’ll tell you this: there are a lot of people in that draw, I don’t know if she’s playing this week or not, that want to see her get seeded.
“I don’t care who you are; I don’t care if you’re [Aryna] Sabalenka or Coco [Gauff]; you don’t want to see Vekic in the first round on a grass court, especially when she’s got matches underneath her belt. That’s a warning shot.”
Over in the Netherlands, former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova reached the Libema Open final before withdrawing due to illness.
Roddick was glad to hear the Czech star hadn’t suffered an injury, and believes she, too, could be a threat at the third Grand Slam of the year.
“Don’t take this in an insensitive way. Let me get to my point, I was relieved when it was an upper respiratory infection. That can be remedied with medicine. I’m happy it’s not like a torn meniscus in your knee, or something that is going to put you out for months,” he said.
“[Barbora] Krejcikova was rolling in this tournament before she was sick, or while she was sick.
“She’s another; circle Vekic if she’s unseeded, circle Krejcikova as someone who no one wants to play first or second round of this tournament.
- Donna Vekic – WTA #33
- Barbora Krejcikova – WTA #39
“She’s one of those players who wins four matches; you go, ‘Oh, s—, here it comes.’ The year she won Wimbledon, she barely won matches the entire year.
“There is no doubt in my mind that when Krejcikova is healthy and firing, and in match shape, that she’s one of the 10 best players in the world.
“She’s not scared of anyone. I don’t think she cares if she’s 65 in the world, playing someone two in the world; she’s got all upside.
“The person two in the world is going to be a lot more scared to play her than vice versa.”
Vekic and Krejcikova will look to cause some big upsets when Wimbledon begins on Monday, June 29.
