‘We must not panic’ – Former British number one feels Emma Raducanu ‘will be okay next year’
Annabel Croft believes that 19-year-old star Emma Raducanu is “coping unbelievably” well with the sudden changes that come with success, but feels she still needs to improve her game.
Former British number one Annabel Croft described Raducanu as “a caged animal who had been let loose” after her US Open victory and feels she will manage the spotlight well.
However, Raducanu has struggled for form since winning the US Open. She lost in the first round of the Indian Wells Masters and second round of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. Although, she did reach the quarter-finals of the Transylvania Open.
British starlet Raducanu began her off-season preparation at the Royal Albert Hall’s Champion Tennis event this weekend where she beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Speaking at a Game4Padel event, Croft said she thinks everything will go well for the young British sensation and that there is no need to panic despite the added limelight and expectations.
“She’s going back to the beginning, doing it in reverse and going through her apprenticeship now.
‘It’s an extraordinary situation where most players she’s facing have three, four, maybe ten years more experience than her.
“Now she’s going to have to go through all these matches, where she’s going to have to learn about different situations, which will take time. She’s so young but I think she’s intelligent enough to cope with it,” Croft claimed.
“I think everything will be okay next year. We mustn’t panic about her, she’s still so young and she is coping unbelievably with so much change in her life.
“There will be enormous pressure building towards Wimbledon and then the US Open but she will cope with all these changes in her life.
“Every single match she plays there will be hype and attention and she’ll always be on centre courts, [she] won’t be playing on the back courts.
“[This] will give her a lot more motivation but she’s always going to have a target on her back,” Croft concluded.
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