Former WTA player Martina Navratilova had some things to say about Emma Raducanu after the Brit crashed out early from the 2024 US Open, urging her to take ownership of her career.
Raducanu is still a fairly young tennis player. While the past few years haven't gone as expected, she's still got plenty of time to do a lot of great things in her career. Even if she never does that, the Brit has already made history with her US Open triumph in 2021.
Her talent should help her deliver a couple of more great achievements in the future, but there are some things she needs to improve upon. Her decision-making leading up to this year's US Open stunned many people because it was bizarre.
Her early loss at the US Open might have happened because of that. Maybe it didn't, but it’s clear that the Brit could clean up a couple of things in her career, and Martina Navratilova shared with Sky Sports what she thinks should happen.
There seems to be too much vagueness around her, which isn't good for a tennis player. As an athlete, Raducanu needs to have clear goals, clear milestones she is pursuing, and a firm understanding of who she is as a player and who the team around her is.
None of this seems certain with Raducanu right now, and that should change according to the former player.
"I think Emma needs to take ownership of herself, of her brand, and of her tennis career most of all. She needs to be clear who her team is, what her goal is and not let herself off the hook."
"Aryna Sabalenka, when she had problems with her serve and everybody was trying to help her, she took ownership of it and fixed it herself."
Raducanu does exercise a high degree of control over her career, but she's proven rather stubborn in her approach. She openly admitted that she has always done things differently, which was her way of saying she's heard the criticism, but she won't change.
Previously, it was Navratilova who criticized the Brit during her unsuccessful seasons after the US Open title, after which Raducanu also jokingly told her she heard her criticism. Still, the American thinks there are things she could work on.
"Emma needs to be in charge and she’s old enough to know what she should be doing – surround herself with good people and then trust in them, and give it time so that you can see the results. Technically she is great, but she needs more matchplay. I still don’t think she is as fit as she should be."
Similar to others, Navratilova finds some of her choices bizarre, but ultimately, what she wants most is for the Brit to think long-term and work towards that.
"I feel like if you don’t want to play the Olympics because it’s a different surface, you need to fix your body. Maybe it’s just not equipped for this kind of stress. She needs to think long-term… not tomorrow or next week."
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