Raducanu Faces Unique Mental Pressure And 'Takes Risk Every Time' Says Mouratoglou
News
Emma Raducanu faces more mental pressure than her rivals on the WTA Tour because of being from Great Britain, according to Patrick Mouratoglou.
Raducanu's journey hasn't been easy. She amazed everyone as a teenager, winning the US Open, but since then, the Brit has struggled to back up that result with more success on the tennis courts.
She has struggled with many different things, including injuries, form, and confidence, which were all more or less interconnected. Experienced coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently explained the connection between those.
Mouratoglou spoke to Tennis365, explaining that for tennis players, all parts of their game are interconnected, which makes it challenging to make adjustments, as it then impacts the rest of the game as well.
"A champion is always the complete package and that is the game and the mind. You cannot separate one from the other and that is why it is so important to understand players mentally because you can do or say something that can put some doubts in their mind if you don’t say it at the right moment."
"If you touch on the technique of a player, you will also touch on the mental side of their game, for sure. It is the same with the physical and the tactical. You can bring stress that can create doubts."
"Tennis players are very fragile machines. They are not robots, as that would be too simple. If it was just about executing a shot and a plan, then they would be robots, but it’s more than that. The emotional side of tennis is so big and plays a massive role."
"Most players are confident as they have the ability to play good tennis when they reach the top of the sport, but so many of them don’t believe in themselves when they play certain opponents."
"When they lose a few matches, they lose belief to beat others and when you are in the locker room, you can see how some of them are scared before matches and it’s crazy. But there is so much on the line every time they play a match because first of all, they are evaluating themselves."
Speaking about pressure, Mouratoglou mentioned Emma Raducanu. He knows that being from Great Britain means plenty of expectations, which the 22-year-old player has struggled with.
The French coach explained that the expectations that Raducanu has to face do not come only from the fans, but also from the press.
"Then they have the press evaluating them and when you are in a big country like Britain and there is a lot of publicity around tennis, a player like Emma Raducanu takes the risk that people will write or say bad things about you every time you go on court."
"That is not easy to deal with. Players are stressed and they need a lot of confidence to deal with that stress or they will not be able to deliver."
