As she discussed her mental and physical challenges after winning the US Open, Emma Raducanu remarked,”sometimes I think to myself ‘I wish I’d never won the US Open'”
The 20-year-old made history by being the first qualifier to win the Grand Slam and winning the 2021 US Open.
Since then, Raducanu has sustained a number of injuries, and following surgery on his wrist and hand, he is currently out of commission.
“I was struggling with the physical pain but the mental side of it was really difficult for me too,” she said.
The Brit added in a statement to The Times: “I always want to put forward the best version of myself, or strive for that, but I knew I couldn’t.”
Sebastian Sachs, Raducanu’s fifth coach in less than two years, and she parted ways in June.
She has only participated in 10 WTA Tour matches in 2023, winning only five of them, three of which were at Indian Wells.
“I very much attach my self-worth to my achievements,” she said.
“If I lost a match I would be really down, I would have a day of mourning, literally staring at the wall. I feel things so passionately and intensely.”
When Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3 in the championship match of the US Open in New York, she did so without dropping a set.
But since then, she hasn’t advanced past the second round of a Grand Slam, and her ranking has dropped from 10th in July 2022 to 128th.
After having minor surgeries on her hands and ankle, she will miss Wimbledon and the French Open this year.
“That moment on the court, when I was celebrating [the US Open win], I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment,” said Raducanu.
“Anything can come my way, I will take it for what I have right now because this is the best thing in the world. I promised myself that, on the court that day.
“Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other. I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself ‘I wish I’d never won the US Open, I wish that didn’t happen’.
“Then I am like, ‘remember that feeling, remember that promise’, because it was completely pure.”
Raducanu, who signed several business contracts after winning the US Open, claimed that after becoming famous, she has “had to mature very quickly” because she was “extremely naive.”
“What I have realised in the past two years, the tour and everything that comes with it, it’s not a very nice, trusting and safe space,” she added.
“You have to be on guard because there are a lot of sharks out there. I think people in the industry, especially with me because I was 19, now 20, they see me as a piggy bank.
“It has been difficult to navigate. I have been burned a few times. I have learned, keep your circle as small as possible.”
