Emma Raducanu has been told that she must set smaller goals if she wants to return to the top of tennis as she continues to build back from her latest ankle injury setback. The 20-year-old won the 2021 US Open and peaked at a career-high of No 10 last year but has suffered with a number of physical issues and since dropped outside of the top 70. And Olympic champion Monica Puig has offered Raducanu some advice in her quest to slowly climb back up the rankings.
Raducanu is bidding to slowly return to the upper echelons of tennis following her breakout 2021 US Open win. The Brit won her first and only title at the Grand Slam tournament in what was just her fourth-ever professional event and has since been trying to adjust to life on the pro tour full-time, finding herself set back by a number of injuries in her freshman 2022 season.
After a block of physical work with Andy Murray’s former strength trainer Jez Green over the off-season, the world No 80 is hoping to trying and climb up the ladder in a more conventional way this time around though her plans were derailed when she turned her ankle at her season-opening tournament in Auckland, then making it to the second-round of the Australian Open with little preparation. With Raducanu next set to play at the end of this month, retired pro Puig has offered her some advice on setting some new goals in her young career.
“Not necessarily big ones because she won that Grand Slam title, but she hasn’t been able to string many results together in a row,” the former world No 27 told Sky Sports. Puig herself experienced something of a breakout at the 2016 Olympics when she won the gold medal in women’s singles seemingly out of nowhere, and told the 20-year-old what type of aims she should have at this point in her career.
JUST IN: Federer needs ‘special condition’ to accept Wimbledon role – EXCLUSIVE
“Let go of the expectation after winning a Grand Slam,” she continued. “First it’s small goals so quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals consistently of 250 events. Maybe win a couple more matches in a row and work on things on the court.”
And the now-retired 29-year-old also thought that Raducanu could look to her rivals for some inspiration too. Puig added: “See your opponents. What are they doing to you? Where are the holes in my game and start filling in those holes by practising more on those things. It can take the pressure off her back.”
The Puerto Rican was also full of praise for the former world No 10, having witnessed her unprecedented run to the US Open title first hand. “I saw her many times courtside during the US Open when she did win that title and she is a very talented player,” she said.
DON’T MISS
McEnroe’s luxurious houses, rock-star wife and cars amid £87m fortune
Thiem issues heartbreaking statement after Slam win stunted career
Djokovic gets explicit reaction from tennis icon he’s trying to catch
“Physically, she’s still very young. I’m not going to say she’s already a very established player with a lot of experience. She won that US Open title having not played many WTA events and she hasn’t had a full calendar.”
And she had a reminder for those who expected Raducanu to be a consistent top player immediately after winning the US Open as a qualifier. Puig added: “She still needs time to develop and time to find out who she is as a tennis player, who she is as a person and I can sympathise with her because when I won the Olympics it came out of nowhere.
“I didn’t have as much media attention as she does and I can only imagine coming from the UK where something like that is so big. It just exploded.”
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
