Emma Raducanu: My career in tennis is probably finished in 10 years

Emma Raducanu has spoken about her future in the sport, after the Brit officially withdrew from Roland Garros qualifying. Raducanu has not competed since the Madrid Open, where she suffered a first round straight sets defeat to Maria Lourdes Carle.

The 21-year-old is currently the third alternate on the entry list for the Roland Garros main draw, but will not play qualifying after electing to pull out from that draw. In a recent interview with The Times, Raducanu spoke about receiving criticism from people about her off-court commitments, “There are those who see me doing a shoot or posing for a commercial and they don’t see the seven hours before that at the training centre, doing physio, gym, hitting balls. But if on a rare evening I go to a premiere and I get photographed, that’s my downtime.” Since becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam as a teenager at the 2021 US Open, Raducanu’s life has completely changed and the former world No.10 was asked about whether she gets jealous of her friends that are living more normal lives. “I do, but the rewards I am getting at this point are a lot greater than the best they can get,” responded Raducanu. “My career in tennis is probably finished in 10 years, so I have got to maximise. It’s a sacrifice worth making.”

We are taking her HOMEEE❤️???????????? pic.twitter.com/L6P52UFpAm
— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) September 12, 2021

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Raducanu elected to skip playing the Italian Open that has taken place over the past fortnight, where the women’s singles champion (Iga Swiatek) will receive €699,690, compared to the men’s singles champion getting the much greater sum of €963,225. And the current world No.212 has spoken about the gender pay gap on tour, “A lot of women’s players are technically better. They rely on speed, agility and brain rather than brute strength. The prize money gap is huge on the ATP tour, which I don’t necessarily think is fair, but equally playing three sets in the slams is a lot better than the men’s five, which is brutal.” It is currently unclear where Raducanu will play next, with many fans speculating that she will return to the matchcourt for the upcoming grass court season.Inside the baseline…It was very disappointing to hear that Emma Raducanu had withdrawn from Roland Garros qualifying, as she had started to make inroads on clay at the Billie Jean King Cup and in Stuttgart. Especially as Grand Slam qualifying is where things really started to take off for the 2021 US Open champion, but hopefully Raducanu can get some early practice in ahead of the grass court season.

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Emma Raducanu: My career in tennis is probably finished in 10 years