Billie Jean King believes that Emma Raducanu will recover and flourish at her next tournament following her disappointing US Open departure, during which she insisted other competitors target her “big time”. The British No. 1 witnessed her major tournament aspirations for 2025 conclude with a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Elena Rybakina.
The No. 9 seed crushed Raducanu in merely 62 minutes to progress to the round of 16, and now the Brit will leave New York to focus on next month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in China. And the tournament’s namesake, who is considered one of tennis’ greatest legends, is supporting Raducanu to make her impact as she captains her nation against Japan. Speaking about Raducanu’s Chinese heritage – which she inherits from her mother – King said: “I think it’s huge that you can speak the language of wherever you are. Raducanu is very articulate as well, she’s very good at getting up and speaking, covering a lot of subjects. You can tell she thinks about a lot of things compared to a lot of the players.
“I think we’re really lucky to have her but she likes it, she likes playing for her country. If I were her, I’d be pretty excited. She’s playing very well, and the main thing is she’s injury-free, her body’s healthy again.”
Having the backing of one of tennis’ biggest names in her corner will undoubtedly be music to Raducanu’s ears as the Brit seeks to rebuild momentum following her brutal US Open dumping on Friday. Discussing her enthusiasm for the upcoming tournament, the 22-year-old said: “I think you take a few steps forward, one step back, but I think overall I’m working and building towards good things.
“I’m just enjoying my tennis, for the most part. In the big scheme of things I’m working towards playing better and being a better tennis player, more complete overall and looking forward to going back to Asia.
“I’ve never really played an Asia swing, so I hope this year I’ll be able to.”
Raducanu will be accompanied in the squad by Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal and Jodie Burrage for what marks the beginning of the season’s final chapter in Asia. The Brits will take on Japan in the quarter-finals on September 18, with maintaining fitness being Raducanu’s primary objective, considering her recent injury record.
However, the world No. 36 believes that when she faces some of tennis’ elite performers, they elevate their performance dramatically – though she regards it as a mark of respect. Asked if she felt her rivals upped their game against her after her US Open exit, Raducanu said: “Yeah, big time. I think when the very top play against me, they have a point to prove that they’re at the top for a reason.
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“Every time I’ve played one of them they’ve shown that. While I’m improving, doing better, gaining maybe some more respect, I think the top have definitely raised their game.
“But I’ll take that as a compliment that they’ve decided to really lock in against me, but at the same time it does show I have a lot more work to do.”
Former British No. 1 Tim Henman has backed Raducanu to learn from her brutal US Open “reality check”.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he added: “We’re talking about her up against a top-10 player, one of the best players out there. There’s been a lot of positives this hard-court season but this was certainly a bit of a reality check. Difficult day but she’ll learn a lot from it.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk