Emma Raducanu is currently in the midst of her latest spell on the sidelines, with the stress fracture of her foot that ruled her out of Wimbledon also threatening her hopes of playing at next month’s US Open.
The British No 1 has already confirmed she has pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati next month, with her withdrawal from those two events set to have a negative impact on her ranking.
If she also misses the US Open, Raducanu could drop outside the top 50 of the WTA Rankings and she may then be relying on wildcards to get into main draws at top tier events.
They may no longer be forthcoming as this year’s US Open will mark the fifth anniversary of Raducanu’s famous win in New York, as she came through qualifying to win the title and instantly became a global superstar.
While her status as a Grand Slam champion could earn her some wildcard opportunities and her association with the IMG management group will also help, Raducanu may be faced with the prospect of going through qualifying to get into some events.
More Tennis News
Emma Raducanu faces ranking nightmare after withdrawing from two upcoming events
Emma Raducanu schedule: What is the injury that could keep her out for extended period
Now former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has suggested Raducanu may need to change her lifestyle to ensure her entire focus is on tennis for as long as she decides to continue to play the game.
Raducanu confirmed she can play at a high level when she reached the final of the WTA 500 event at the Queen’s Club in London in June, but the stress fracture in her foot was a result of what she said was ‘too much load’ on her body in that tournament.
Speaking on his podcast, Rusedski was trying to be positive about Raducanu’s latest injury, but he admitted the stop-start nature of her career is not a recipe for long-term success.
“I think you have to be in the team to really know what the issue is,” began Rusedski.
“It depends on how you’re training, how you’re loading, what’s happening. I don’t have enough information, but all I know is we have a lot of talented players in Britain and we need to find a way to keep them healthy.
“Also, consistency of team helps, consistency of training. You can’t take long periods of time off. Even when you’re on holiday, you still need to hit balls. You still need to go to the gym. You need to keep it going because stop starting.
“I remember when Roger Federer was at the peak of his powers and he was still hitting tennis balls when he went on holiday with his family. That’s what you need to do.
“I’m a recreational player now, but if I stop for a few weeks and then I got a seniors event or something, I’m sore. I’m stiff. I don’t bounce back as quickly. So it’s easier for me if I’m just training consistently.
“You need the same approach as the pros. And you have to get that sort of impact and volume. And for Emma at Queens, the problem was she’s played so many back-to-back matches.
“So she wasn’t trained for her body to be able to do that. You can say it’s bad luck, but you have to be prepared sometimes to play two matches in a day and maybe back-to-back two matches.
“I just wish her well. I want to see her healthy. I want to see all our Brits healthy and going in the right direction. But you’ve got to have a look at the sports science behind it as well because something is not right when we have this many of them injured all the time.”
READ NEXT: Arthur Fery to ‘cash in’ like Emma Raducanu after his incredible run at Wimbledon
The post Emma Raducanu told she may need to change her lifestyle to sustain a career in tennis appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply