Three things Emma Raducanu must improve to reach the top again in 2026

Emma Raducanu's year was filled with highs and lows, but three steps can make 2026 a successful season.

After a mixed 2024, this season contained her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal run at the 2025 Miami Open. She also competed well against several top players and featured in the 2025 US Open mixed doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz.

However, she did not advance past the third round of a Grand Slam or reach any WTA finals. This article identifies the key areas in Raducanu's attempts to reach the top of women's tennis in 2026 and beyond.

As mentioned before, Raducanu ran some of the best WTA players close in 2025. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, and Barbora Krejcikova were all just a tiebreak away from being beaten by the Briton.

Raducanu could have been victorious in all those matches. Sabalenka triumphed 7-6(7-3), 4-6, 7-6(7-5) at the 2025 Cincinnati Open despite her younger opponent winning more points and creating chances she could not take.

Her losses to Krejcikova and Pegula during the Asian swing were even more brutal. Raducanu missed three match points against the Czech at the 2025 Korea Open, one when serving for the match and two in a tiebreak, before falling 6-4, 6-7, 1-6.

History repeated itself in the 2021 US Open champion's next tournament. Pegula saved three match points in the second set tiebreak at the 2025 China Open, and Raducanu then collapsed to a 6-3, 6-7, 0-6 defeat.

Those contests and two victories earlier in the season against Amanda Anisimova proved she can compete with the best players. Raducanu could not have become a Grand Slam winner at 18 without considerable natural talent.

However, Raducanu's nervousness in tight moments and her collapse in the third set against Krejcikova and Pegula show that she needs to improve mentally if she wants to reach and stay at the top.

Against Sabalenka and in the first two sets against Pegula and Krejcikova, Raducanu showed no fear and went toe-to-toe with them. Her rally tolerance and ability to hit hard despite Sabalenka's power were particularly impressive.

But Raducanu does not always play with that mindset. When competing against the best players, it can be easy to lose belief and become conservative. That has happened to her on other occasions this year.

At the 2025 Italian Open, Raducanu was thrashed 1-6, 2-6 by Coco Gauff. In the heavy conditions, the 22-year-old played within herself, seeming not to believe she could hit through the fastest WTA player. That played into Gauff's hands and made victory inevitable.

Raducanu was also guilty of that in matches against Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina at the French and US Opens, winning three games in those matches. Despite their styles not being identical, those two players are most devastating with time on their shots.

A counter to this argument is that Raducanu focused on defense in her victories against Anisimova at the Australian Open and Miami Open, but the American underperformed and was not playing Top 10 tennis in those matches.

If Raducanu plays cautiously against top players performing well, she can only win if they have a bad day. That was shown when an in-form Anisimova dismantled the Briton 6-2, 6-1 in their most recent meeting at the 2025 Canadian Open.

A few days before the US Open, Raducanu appointed Francisco Roig as her new coach. He was on Rafael Nadal's team from 2005 until 2022. He then coached Matteo Berrettini from December 2023 to October 2024, helping him win three titles.

After ending her season slightly early due to illness, Raducanu extended the agreement with Roig for the 2026 season. That is a wise move because of Roig's experience and how well she played in long stages of her matches since he joined the team.

Raducanu has worked with several coaches for brief periods, and did not have a permanent coach for much of 2025. Believing in someone like Roig and keeping him for multiple seasons could be exactly what she needs.

The Miami Open quarterfinalist hired Yutaka Nakamura, who previously worked with Naomi Osaka and Maria Sharapova, as her fitness coach during the 2024 off-season. She has looked more confident with her movement since he joined.

However, Raducanu's dizziness in the hot and humid conditions at the 2025 Wuhan Open and 2025 Ningbo Open showed that she still needs to improve physically. The best way to do that is by working with a highly regarded figure like Nakamura.