Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open title remains one of the sport’s most iconic and unlikely success stories.
Even today, over four years on, she remains the only player in Open Era history to have come through qualifying to win any Grand Slam.
An unseeded and unexpected threat, she took full advantage of a weakened draw to claim the ultimate prize the sport has to offer.
However, the years that followed were more than tumultuous, leaving her a shell of the bright, hopeful youngster who played free-flowing tennis to win the tournament.
How likely is it that Emma Raducanu wins another Grand Slam, and why?
Perhaps her struggles were due to misfortune; although, she has to take some accountability for the disorder that followed.
Emma Raducanu’s immediate reaction to winning the US Open title
A string of coaching appointments mixed with plenty of poor injury luck left Emma Raducanu incapable of competing at the level many expected she would.
Alas, it was always unlikely that she would stay at the Grand Slam-challenging level after such a fairytale story.
However, she perhaps showed a bit of naivety in one post-match interview, where she revealed if she planned to change anything following the title.
Raducanu admitted: “I’ve always dreamed of winning a Grand Slam. You say, ‘I want to win a Grand Slam’, but to have the belief I did, and actually executing, winning a Grand Slam, I can’t believe it.
“I don’t feel absolutely any pressure. I’m still only 18 years old. I’m just having a free swing at anything that comes my way. That’s how I faced every match here in the States. It got me this trophy, so I don’t think I should change anything.”
Fortunately, Raducanu has now hired Francisco Roig as a long-term coach to hopefully make the necessary changes that will take her back to the top of women’s tennis.
Emma Raducanu’s impossible task after the 2021 US Open
Realistically, Raducanu has no right to win the US Open title when she did.
She was a teenager competing in just her second-ever Grand Slam main draw, having come through qualifiers as a relative unknown.
So, it should have surprised no one that, after winning that event, she went straight back to the level she had been at previously.
The promise and talent were clearly there, but she was so young and lacked so much experience. It was ludicrous to think she’d instantly become a consistent threat after that victory.
Is Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open title the most shocking Grand Slam run ever?
As such, she faced an impossible task to live up to the hype, with the British media lapping up the opportunity to swiftly tear down one of its best stories in recent memory.
Thankfully, the British number one finally seems to have found the consistency she so richly needed in the years that followed her US Open title.
