Emma Raducanu offered advice from Billie Jean King who praises ‘fantastic’ Brit

Emma Raducanu has been offered advice on how to deal with criticism from tennis icon Billie Jean King, who claims that ‘Britain is really lucky to have’ the 2021 US Open champion.

Raducanu is currently out of action, after having to undergo surgery on both of her wrists and her left ankle.

However, it appears that the 20-year-old is back doing some fitness training, with Raducanu posting a cryptic message on Twitter last week saying, “Today was a good day,” with a sponge and a tennis ball emoji.

today was a good day – ??

— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) July 20, 2023

Emma Raducanu rose to stardom in the summer of 2021 as an 18-year-old, following a run to the second week of Wimbledon as a wildcard and then shocked the world by becoming the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam title when she claimed the US Open crown.

However, things have not gone quite to plan since and Raducanu spoke in a recent interview about how she sometimes wishes that she had never won the US Open.

Trailblazer and 39-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King has offered the young Brit some advice, “I just know it’s gotten tough for her, I just hope that she’ll be alright because it’s tough. If you want to be a professional athlete, it’s tough.

The 79-year-old continued, “And you’ve got to learn not to listen to criticism, you got to learn all these things and that’s why I say don’t take anything personally because once you learn that, you’re okay. And if people are bullying you on social media you’ve got to stop looking at it or get some way to finish up, it’s really important.

“But I hope she continues to play, I hope she gets over injuries and comes back and really does well in tennis and particularly in the US Open because she’s won that one now, and the way she won it is still amazing, so I hope she keeps playing.”

Raducanu is a multi-linguist due to her heritage and King has praised her ‘great’ communication skills, suggesting that Britain should be proud to have her.

“I remember giving her the [US Open] trophy and she speaks so well, she’s such a great representative. She speaks fluently in Mandarin, she probably can speak Romanian and English and the way she speaks, she’s just a great communicator,” claimed King. “So I think Britain is really lucky to have her. And I think she’s fantastic.”

Raducanu is not on the entry list for the US Open, so it seems increasingly unlikely that she will be able to return to the tournament that she won two years ago.

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