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Emma Raducanu admits to having ‘FOMO’ after electing to skip Paris Olympics


Emma Raducanu has admitted to having ‘FOMO’ after electing to skip the Paris Olympic Games, but the Brit insists that focussing on hard courts was ‘100% the right option’.

Raducanu is currently in Washington D.C. after receiving a wildcard for the WTA 500 event, as she returns to the US Open hard court swing for the first time since 2022.

There were some concerns for Raducanu physically after she required treatment in her fourth round exit at Wimbledon, but the 21-year-old has revealed that she is feeling healthy ahead of her return to the matchcourt.

“I feel good physically. I have no problems really. No niggles. I’m just very happy and excited to be in Washington,” Raducanu told press. “I played this tournament two years ago, and it’s one of my favorites on the calendar. Unfortunately I had to miss last year. But I’m just happy to have the opportunity to be playing this year.”

Raducanu did have the option to play at the Paris Olympics this week after being offered a place as a Grand Slam champion, but turned it down due to the quick surface changes.

Despite suggesting that there was some jealousy of her peers in Paris, Raducanu is sticking to her guns on the decision, “Yeah, I would say for me, staying on one surface is important. The change of surface isn’t the best thing for me right now. In the future, maybe it would have been.

“At this moment in time, I think switching to clay straight after grass, it’s such a big contrast, then back onto the hard courts, I didn’t want to risk anything. For me this option was just a lot better.”

The 2021 US Open champion added, “Of course, there are elements of FOMO (fear of missing out), missing out. Watching the Olympic ceremony, everybody in the team kits, a part of you obviously wants to be there and representing your country. I think when I think big picture, long-term, it’s the right call.”

Raducanu underwent surgeries to both wrists and her left ankle in April last year and has since been cautious in managing her schedule, including missing Roland Garros to focus on the grass court season.

And the world No.89 has implied that her decision may have been different for the Olympics had she not been transitioning from grass-clay-hard courts.

“No, I mean, had the Olympics been on a different surface, then I don’t know. It’s obviously something that every athlete wants to be a part of,” explained Raducanu. “I had to think longer term. Hopefully I’ll have more Olympics in my career.”

Raducanu continued, “I think coming here was 100% the right option. For immediate gratification, playing the Olympics would have been nice. But long-term perspective, long-term health, coming here… Also I love this tournament.

“Had it been a tournament maybe somewhere else that wasn’t as appealing to me, I probably could have reconsidered. But I love D.C. Coming here was very, yeah, enticing.”

Raducanu will begin her US Open hard court swing in the capital later today against eighth seed Elise Mertens, who she actually beat at Wimbledon earlier this month.

Inside the baseline…

Emma Raducanu came under a lot of scrutiny for her decision, as she seems to for any decision she makes regardless of how justifiable it is. And that decision is one that many other players also made for the same reason including Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur, who are also both in Washington D.C this week. The decision to skip Roland Garros this year caused lots of controversy, but seemed to pay off with a relatively successful grass court season and hopefully that will be the case for the US Open hard court swing too.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.