Raducanu given advice by King with Britain ‘lucky’ to have tennis star

Billie Jean King says Emma Raducanu needs to learn “not to listen to criticism” if she hopes to reach her true potential in the sport. The Tennis legend believes Britain are “lucky” to have such an exciting young talent and hopes the 20-year-old can overcome her injury woes – and get back to doing what she does best.

Raducanu has been plagued by injuries over the last couple of years and recently missed Wimbledon after undergoing surgery on both her wrists and her ankle. The Brit last appeared on the court back in April when she was dumped out of the Stuttgart Open in the first round by Jelena Ostapenko.

Since winning the US Open in 2021, Raducanu has seen her WTA ranking fall from No 10 to No 131. During this time, five coaches have come and gone – Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs.

Given her high turnover of coaches and the recent dip in form, many have been highly critical of the youngster but King has advised Raducanu to block out the noise and stick to her game.

“I just know it’s gotten tough for her, I just hope that she’ll be alright because it’s tough,” King told Sky Sports. “If you want to be a professional athlete, it’s tough.

“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.”

The 39-time Grand Slam winner believes Raducanu is a “great representative for women’s tennis” and says Britain is “lucky” to have her.

King added: “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. So I think Britain is really lucky to have her. And I think she’s fantastic.”