Emma Raducanu: I need to stop caring what people think about me

Emma Raducanu has said she is trying to shut out the external noise and debate around her career, after several bumpy seasons since her 2021 breakthrough in New York.  Raducanu returns to the WTA Tour this week in Madrid without an official coach, although Mark Petchey – the long-time associate who helped her reach the quarter-finals of Miami last month – is expected to drop in and out around his broadcasting commitments.

As for her up-and-down results, which have already included a run of six defeats in seven matches this season, Raducanu told Sky Sports that she needs to stop being so aware of other people’s opinions.  “It’s really difficult, because I think every decision I make is made on such a big scale that it’s up for judgment,” she said. “I just need to get to a place where I’m comfortable enough and secure enough in what I’m doing that it doesn’t matter what other people are saying.

“Over the last few years, that is something that I have been toiling with, because I would care about what people think. Just in general, like anytime someone’s upset with me or something, it affects me.  “The last few years, it has been difficult. But I think I’m trying to find a way now to just do what is natural and what feels true to myself and what feels authentic. That way I can express myself and – not even about the tennis – just feel a better person, happier and lighter.”

Raducanu has not played a competitive match for almost a month, opting instead to squeeze in a mini-training block ahead of the clay-court season in the hope of protecting her fragile body from injury. One positive of 2025 to date is that she has not yet picked up any significant physical issues.

Her mid-season break meant that she missed Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup campaign in The Hague, where Anne Keothavong’s team defeated the Germans and the Dutch to earn a place at September’s finals event in Shenzhen.

One of the most impressive performers during that weekend in The Hague was the Netherlands’ No 1 Suzan Lamens, who defeated her British equivalent Katie Boulter in straight sets. As it happens, Raducanu has now drawn Lamens as her first-round opponent in Madrid.

Since her last tournament appearance, Raducanu has been trying to balance her workload. A tally of 14 matches at this stage of the season (seven wins, seven losses) puts her well ahead of her equivalent figures in any previous season.

Finding a balance

“I’ve realised now that less is more for me sometimes,” Raducanu told Sky Sports. “I work really intense and really hard and can definitely be partial to overkilling it sometimes.  “It’s just making sure when I’m on the court I’m maxing out for X amount of time so I can focus, and then once I’m done, I’m switching off better.  “You hear a lot that people need matches and I say the same thing. Matches definitely help, but there’s a time and a place. There are other times where you need to reset and get your bearings, because the season is very long.”

With regard to her work with Petchey, who has to fit coaching sessions around his commentating commitments at the Tennis Channel, Raducanu said: “It’s pretty informal for now but is something that’s going really well. I’m still figuring things out: what works for me, what doesn’t. For now, I’m not getting as technical as I used to maybe.”  In Madrid, Raducanu will also be accompanied by her long-time mentor Jane O’Donoghue, whom she describes as a “big sister”.

Raducanu’s GB team-mate Katie Boulter has been the British No 1 since June 2023, but her position at the top has come under threat from the 2021 US Open winner and Sonay Kartal in recent months.  In the first round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday, Boulter got off to a stuttering start, finding herself 4-1 down in the first set to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.  Boulter managed to fight back to parity before losing the first set. However, she took the next two much more comfortably, clinching a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory and booking her place in the second round.