Another crushing defeat for Emma Raducanu. She lost first round in Dubai 1000 to the lucky loser Antonia Ruzic 16 75 26. Ruzic is a journeywoman level player who was on a five match losing streak. Raducanu has yet to beat any player in the top 75 this season and has quite a lot of points to defend soon. Her world no. 25 ranking is in danger. This was the first top 30 win for Ruzic.
The 23 year old Raducanu’s confidence tank is empty, she hasn’t done anything since winning the US Open a half decade ago.
She has tried everything – about a dozen coaches, injury alibis, using emotional adrenaline, extremely hard training, minimizing social media, and even advantageous conveniently suitable draws – but nothing has worked and she still finds herself lost at sea. Even the threat of losing high profile sponsorship has not provided the extra incentive to revive her inner Grand Slam champion identity.
Maybe Raducanu needs to take a year or two off from the game like Ash Barty and Jennifer Capriati did.
Maybe she needs a coach who has experiences the highs and lows of pro tennis – like Capriati or Seles or Agassi.
Trusting the process is not working for Raducanu and the last five years of mediocrity prove it.
She will need to change the process to try some new solution ideas. Because everybody knows what Raducanu is capable of.
Dubai · Emma Raducanu