It has been almost nine months since Emma Raducanu retired from the tennis circuit.
A lot has happened on the tour in that time, including the crowning of a Wimbledon champion in left field (anyone remember Marketa Vondrousova?) and a first Grand Slam title for fellow teenage prodigy Coco Gauff.
Now a rebuilt Raducanu is preparing for her first major since that long pit stop. And judging by Friday’s pre-tournament press conference, she has no doubt her engine will soon be running at full speed.
As Raducanu told reporters: “I think my level, to be honest, is just too good not to get through if I put consistent work together.”
One thing Raducanu has never lacked is faith. She spent much of 2021 ambushing more seasoned professionals, who melted under her poise and confidence.
Now we’re about to see Raducanu return to her favorite habitat: a show court at a grand slam. Her Australian Open campaign starts on Monday or Tuesday against American Shelby Rogers.
The first signals are positive. The pain that plagued Raducanu earlier this week – which forced her to withdraw from practice matches on Wednesday and Thursday – has subsided to such an extent that compatriot Jodie Burrage reported on Friday that “Emma was definitely skimming the ball” during training.
And there is also a different aura about Raducanu, the feeling of a woman who has taken a step back and rethought her entire approach to tennis. This is a very different Raducanu from the witch-infested figure who uttered 58 words in response to 16 questions during her most recent meeting with the British press.
Since her US Open miracle, she has had three major problems: the high expectations, the preponderance of injuries and the constant turnover of coaches. Even if a few of these issues could still arise — most likely Nos. 2 and 3 — she’s found at least a brief respite from the churn, with her body behaving and her training going smoothly under longtime ally Nick Cavaday .
“I asked him because he coached me [as head coach of the Bromley Tennis Centre] when I was between 10 and 12,” said Raducanu of Cavaday. “We just take it as it goes. It works very well so far. I obviously hope to continue with him, because I feel very comfortable with him. I know his sister [former British No 3 Naomi Cavaday] very good because everyone is from Bromley. So big, the Bromley!”
Cavaday, 37, could potentially solve one of Raducanu’s ongoing problems: the fact that she is naturally skeptical of coaches, both in terms of their ability and their reliability. As she said last June: “People in the industry… see me as a piggy bank.”
It increasingly appears that the only advisors Raducanu doesn’t suspect are trying to exploit her are the ones she worked with before she became famous – a category that also includes Cavaday, part of the Lawn Tennis Association fitness staff. and Jane O’Donoghue. , the coach-turned-banker who joined her in Auckland a fortnight ago.
In her return to the circuit this year, Raducanu also travels with another comforting presence: her mother Renee, who nursed her during her long period of immobilization last summer.
“My mother helped me a lot,” said Raducanu, who turned 21 in November. “For a while I had a scooter to get around. I couldn’t text anything.
“It just puts things into perspective. The feeling of not being able to move your body, to walk to the kitchen to get a snack for example, I couldn’t do it and you miss it. You only really realize it when you experience it yourself, no matter how many different athletes say: ‘Be grateful, appreciate that you are healthy’.”
Raducanu should be happy with her first-round draw. Although Rogers is a dangerous hitter, she has not played a competitive match since last year’s Wimbledon due to a torn abdominal muscle.
Should Raducanu pull through, her portion of the draw will feature some dangerously placed players, but none of the leading favorites for the title. Sorana Cirstea, who shares her Romanian heritage, would be her most likely opponent in the second round, possibly followed by Chinese No. 1 Qinwen Zheng.
Yet Raducanu is too sensible to judge himself on the results of the coming days. The main goal, she says, is to get out of Melbourne in good health.
“For me, long-term success is playing a full season,” she said. “I know my level is there, I just have to keep working on it to make it more consistent.
“I think that will come with the time in the gym, the time on the field, being able to play the calendar and not think about, ‘Am I going to have to pull out of this?’ or ‘Does that hurt?’”
The arrival of Raducanu was an immediate sensation; a fairytale scenario that may never repeat itself. But now it’s time for her to play the long game.
Raducanu’s message for Littler
Emma Raducanu has advised her fellow teenage sensation Luke Littler to take a breath and enjoy his recent coming of age at the PDC World Darts Championship, rather than moving on to the next thing too quickly.
Speaking to reporters in Australia, Raducanu warned Littler – whose sudden fame is a reflection of her own performance at the 2021 US Open – to stick to a small and trusted circle of friends and advisors.
Raducanu admitted that she – like everyone else in the country – had become involved in the debate over whether Littler could really be that young.
“My friend sent me a picture of the boy who lost in the final,” Raducanu said during a break from her preparations for the tournament in Melbourne. “She said, ‘I can’t believe this guy is only 16 years old’.”
Asked if she could give any advice to Littler, who is almost two years younger than when she won the US Open, Raducanu replied: “I would just say, ‘Keep your circle close, take the time to actually enjoy it, and ‘don’t immediately rush to the next thing’.”
There are clear parallels between Raducanu and Littler, both of whom had to pass qualifying at their respective events. As they destroyed a series of seasoned opponents, their youth, fearlessness and charisma captivated TV viewers.
The only obvious difference is that she won her final, while he came second to the implacable Luke Humphries. But Littler’s fame has still exploded thanks to seven stunning performances at Alexandra Palace.
Raducanu admitted in Melbourne on Friday that her own historic triumph had left her with expectations too high. “After the US Open,” she said, she had for a long time felt like she was “playing with a backpack full of rocks.”