Emma Raducanu ‘needs time and more experience on Tour’ says current WTA star
World number four Paula Badosa has claimed that Emma Raducanu “needs time” and urged both the fans and the media to not over-burden the teenager so early on in her career.
The Bromley born teen has been blighted by injuries throughout 2022 and is now in a fitness race to be ready for this year’s Summer Slam.
Earlier this month, Raducanu was forced to retire with a side injury just seven games into her match against Viktorija Golubic at the Nottingham Open.
The 19-year-old, who was expected to take part at the tournament in Eastbourne, had until 16:00 BST on Friday to request a wild card but did not appear on the list.
Despite Raducanu playing just 33 minutes of grass-court tennis in preparation for her home Grand Slam, expectations will remain high on the 19-year-old if she does recover from injury in time for Wimbledon.
Spanish number one Paula Badosa, speaking at the Eastbourne International, discussed the huge pressure and expectation on Raducanu’s shoulders.
She urged fans and the media to lay off the world number 11 and to not over-burden her so early on in her career.
The 24-year-old told reporters, “I mean her situation is very tough and she already did amazing things in this sport at a very young age.
“I think most of the people are tough on her but in the other side maybe I can understand because press is press. Still, it puts so much pressure on her and she is a teenager still with so much to learn.
“She needs time and I think she needs more experience on Tour and she will get it but I think people have to stop putting all this pressure on her and expectations.
“What she did is play very, very well at one Grand Slam and she won it, so you can see how good she is but you cannot expect her to win every match and tournament because that is impossible. She needs time and she will get it because she has a lot of talent.”
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