The stories of Emma Raducanu and Bianca Andreescu have so many similarities, with both winning the US Open in sparkling fashion and being catapulted to global superstardom overnight.
Andreescu’s win in the 2019 US Open final against the great Serena Williams created global headlines, with Raducanu’s triumph on the same court in New York two years later one of the biggest stories tennis has ever seen.
What came next for the two young superstars of women’s tennis was less glorious, with injuries and dips in form and confidence probably an inevitable part of their journey in the sport.
Andreescu is battling to get back to her best heading into 2026 and Raducanu has enjoyed a solid year of progress that could see her seal a seeding in the opening Grand Slam of the New Year at the Australian Open.
Speaking exclusively to Tennis365 at the Dongfeng · Voyah Wuhan Open in China, Andreescu suggested the challenges Raducanu has been through have been more challenging for a number of reasons, with her British nationality a major reason why the spotlight shone so brightly on her.
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“Coming from Britain, she’s definitely had it tougher than me,” believes Andreescu. “The fame, the pressure from sponsors… that must have been a lot of pressure.
“For me, I definitely feel I could have done with a little more guidance after (US Open win) and maybe I would have done things a little differently.
“It’s great to see Emma coming back to the top and she is playing some great tennis at the moment. She was close to beating Pegula last week, so that shows the level she is playing at.”
Andreescu went in to suggest that the levels of play down the rankings in the women’s game have risen dramatically since her US Open win and Raducanu’s a couple of years later.
While at the top of the game, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are leading an era of the sport that has taken it to another level.
“The marketing of women’s tennis has picked up and social media has helped that,” she added.
“I need to get better at that myself. My agent keeps telling me to post more and more on social media, but I’m not very good at it, but it feels like a full-time job coming up with posts all the time.”
Andreescu, who is ranked at No 177 after a challenging time with injuries, suffered an agonising defeat in qualifying for the Wuhan Open, as she served for the match against Anastasia Zakharova.
She is playing in the doubles event in Wuhan and is relishing her time in China.
“I love coming here,” she added. “It’s always a fun experience and a little different than what we are use to over the course of the year.
“The food here is always amazing and we are already looking forward to what comes next.
“I’m using these tournaments as a training block for Australia and my aim is to try and qualify for the Australian Open in January.
“That won’t be easy, but I’m happy to be back on court and competing again. I kinda know I will be back competing at the top again. It’s just a matter of time.”
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