Emma Raducanu Criticized By Tennis Legend For Calling Herself 'Dangerous'
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Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker outlined why he did not like Emma Raducanu referring to herself as a dangerous opponent before the Australian Open.
Raducanu began her Australian Open campaign against the 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. After two closely fought sets, the Briton triumphed 7-6, 7-6 despite hitting 15 double sets throughout the match.
It was a great win for Raducanu and her first alongside new fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura, who used to coach Naomi Osaka. He is the first full-time fitness coach Raducanu has hired since starting her professional career.
There had been concerns about the 22-year-old's fitness ahead of the Australian Open when she withdrew from the ASB Classic with a back spasm. That meant she featured in no warmup tournaments before the match against Alexandrova.
However, Raducanu spoke confidently before the contest about her fitness and expected to be ready. The former US Open champion also praised Nakamura for the sessions he had developed for her in preparation for the season's opening Grand Slam.
Last year's Nottingham Opens semifinalist also mentioned that she believes in her ability and views herself as a dangerous opponent. Raducanu believes there is no point in stepping onto the court without belief that winning is possible.
The young star could credibly argue that she backed up her words by beating Alexandrova. In truth, the match was somewhat scrappy, but Raducanu stayed focused despite her serving difficulties to prevail.
While that victory was impressive, Becker is still not a fan of Raducanu referring to herself as dangerous. The three-time Wimbledon winner said that a fear factor is built by consistently winning, something she has not done much in recent years.
"You have the fear factor when you are winning and when you are playing consistently. She has not done that because she’s had a lot of physical difficulties really ever since she won the US Open."
"But ultimately, the fear factor goes out the window if you’re not winning consistently. Therefore it is a problem for her. It can give you an advantage if your opponent is afraid of you, if they don’t want to play you."
While Becker acknowledges that Raducanu is still young, he thinks it is important to have respect and understand she is not currently near the top of the WTA Tour. Moving up the rankings will require improved consistency.
"She’s still a young woman. In tennis terms, still very young. I think people should be patient with her a little bit. I think she knows best what she has to work on now, which is her physicality and her consistently in playing tournaments."
"But to have that respect, you have to play week-in, week-out and ideally you have to win a couple tournaments along the way."
Raducanu will undoubtedly need the right mindset in the second round against Amanda Anisimova. The American, who finished as the runner-up to Jessica Pegula at last year's Canadian Open, possesses devastating power that is challenging to face.
Defeating Alexandrova was impressive, but Raducanu might need an even better performance to compete against Anisimova at the Australian Open.
