‘My heart goes out’ – Nick Kyrgios sympathises with Emma Raducanu amid struggle to reach top level again

Nick Kyrgios has admitted he feels for Emma Raducanu amid her struggle to compete with tennis’ elite again.  Raducanu became the first qualifier ever to win a tennis Grand Slam title in 2021 when she lifted the US Open.

At 18 years old, she had the world at her feet, but over the next four years, she has not managed to get back to those heights.  Her miraculous US Open triumph remains her greatest achievement, with a fourth-round finish at Wimbledon in that same year her second-best at a Grand Slam.  Raducanu has never made it past the third round at the Australian Open and the second round at the French Open.

The British No.1’s struggles haven’t just continued in the major tournaments though, with no titles at all since 2021.  But she has had many injury troubles while also having to deal with a horrifying stalking ordeal at the start of the year, with those issues clearly having an impact on her game.  Now, a shock Round of 16 loss at Eastbourne a few days before Wimbledon starts, has left her off the pace again.

Raducanu admitted after that match that she has been ‘going through some stuff’ ahead of Wimbledon.  And former World No.13 Nick Kyrgios, who has been through issues of his own, has been speaking about her unfortunate problems on and off the court to talkSPORT.  Kyrgios compared how he sees her performances now to when she won the US Open, saying: “My heart does go out to her.  “I look at that run, I was watching it on TV, she was smiling and enjoying her tennis so much and that whole two weeks for her was an incredible journey and she then won the US Open.

“But since then, I’ve seen her kind of enjoy her tennis, but I’ve never really seen her smile and really enjoy it as she did when she won the tournament.  “Whether or not that it’s external pressure, I don’t know what’s going on, but at the end of the day, we play sport because we love it and we go out there because we want to compete and entertain people.  “I hope that she figures out what’s wrong and what’s going on there, I hope she finds the answers, but I completely understand.  “Sometimes it just comes with the territory, you can’t ignore it.”

Kyrgios knows all about the mental and physical trouble that tennis’ biggest stars can go through in their career.  The Australian, who will not play at Wimbledon due to injury, opened up on talkSPORT, saying that he was once sent to a psychiatric ward before playing a game against Rafael Nadal.  He also went on to mention the impact that social media can have on the ‘external pressure’ that Raducanu is potentially feeling.

Kyrgios said: “It’s very hard, the one solution is to maybe not manage your accounts, but these days these athletes have so much going on that you have to be in touch with it as well.  “It really is hard, for someone like Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, who won a Grand Slam at a young age.  “And what comes with that is a lot of sponsorships, a lot of brand deals, but also a lot of crazy people.  “Stalkers, people that are betting on her… it’s a lot for her to have on her shoulders in this day and age.”

“You can see how much of a toll it takes on her,” he added. “She loses a match and you can see she’s already probably thinking about the negativity that’s coming.  “I don’t have the answer for it, I deal with it as well, when I lose, I’m feeling with all these people that are abusing us in chats and I don’t know what the solution is.”  Raducanu will hope to reach the heights of her 2021 success at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, June 30.  Her recent form is concerning though, and she has already admitted that she’s feeling ‘tired’ before heading to SW19.  She won’t be seeded for the Grand Slam as she narrowly missed out, sitting 38th in the world as things stand.