‘I am tough' – Emma Raducanu on legacy of US Open win, stalking ordeal and why therapy won't help her

The Guardian

16 hours ago

For four arduous years, so much of Emma Raducanu's life has played out in public. Every decision relating to her career has been dissected and debated. The most banal details surrounding her personal life have been transfigured into headline news. In order to find herself on and off the tennis court, Raducanu has had to learn how to tune out the noise, which at times can be deafening.
Only one month ago at Wimbledon, the discourse surrounding the 22-year-old reached diabolical lows. Even though her on-court performances were strong, it was impossible to escape the speculation surrounding her personal life. In the bowels of Center Court at the Cincinnati Open, I offer my own blunt perspective: I have never cringed as much as I did while watching people trying to pry into her romantic relationships at the All England Club. 'Yeah, and Cam's questions, too,' Raducanu responds, laughing. 'That was terrible. Terrible.'
She was referring to her compatriot Cameron Norrie's post-match press conference, when a reporter asked him whether he was dating Raducanu. Norrie, who was being supported in his player box that day by his long-term partner, was as baffled as he was bemused. For Raducanu, though, such brazen intrusiveness from strangers has simply become part of her everyday life. 'I know, I know,' she says, smiling. 'I guess it comes with the territory, people being so curious. I think they're more curious about this news than any tennis results and tennis news. But I just keep to myself, my private life to one side. It's always funny when people try to find something out, but I try not to read into it so much.'
That curiosity is not isolated to the internet and tabloids. When Raducanu is out in London, paparazzi will find her, even when she is doing nothing more than stepping on to a 345 bus somewhere in Wandsworth. 'It's really freaky, because you don't know they're there. And then you'll see a photo of yourself the next day, and you'll be like: 'There's no way they were there,'' she says.
Considering her well-documented encounters with stalkers – one was arrested and handed a five-year restraining order after stealing items from her front door in 2021 and another fixated person followed her across four different countries earlier this year – Raducanu has genuine concerns regarding her safety: 'After the Dubai incident, that was probably the worst [public attention] I've had,' she says. 'I remember straight afterwards, I found it very difficult going out. I definitely had a bit of a leftover lag effect. But I've been a lot more astute, a lot more, I'd say, safe and I have someone with me. I don't really go out on my own as much. No solo walks. Just always having someone watching my back.'
Everything leads back to those three fateful weeks at the US Open in the summer of 2021, where Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a grand slam title in the open era. The spoils of victory were significant but Raducanu's rapid success yielded considerable challenges. Along with the difficult results and constant criticism, her body constantly betrayed her. In 2023, after struggling physically for a long time, she underwent surgeries on both wrists and her left ankle.
While she tried to prove herself on the court, Raducanu says, people within her team would tell her she was not tough. 'I was obviously, like: 'Oh, no, I am tough enough,'' she says. 'It wasn't good to hear, because I always prided myself on being a hard worker and being tough. And I believe I am. I actually think it was more the people around me that were incorrect, and it led me to having three surgeries and double wrist surgery. I was overtraining and just covering it up, not saying I was in pain, even when I was. So it was really tough to hear. But as I've grown with experience, I kind of realised my body a bit more and trusted myself a bit more.'
Mentally, things were even more challenging. As she failed to follow up her breakthrough victory with similar results, there were times when her mind twisted her US Open triumph into a negative memory, the source of her struggles. It was not until this year that she understood how to focus on her improvement and daily work, however gradual, rather than comparing every result with the 2021 US Open. Still, it remains a work in progress. 'It's [comparisons to the US Open] something that never fully leaves you,' Raducanu says. 'I think it's been four years now, I don't think it's fully gone away. Maybe in a few years, maybe when I'm older, more mature, but it's hard to put that aside completely. It's always in the back of your mind, but it's more just being aware of those thoughts and then not letting it crash your day or ruin the work that you're doing, and bringing it back to what I'm doing now, and the process.'
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Considering her many difficulties, an obvious question is whether sports psychology or therapy have been a part of her life over the past few years. 'I've tried. I've tried,' she says. 'I've obviously been recommended to do it a lot, with what I went through. It was something that not many people, well actually, no one has gone through, which is probably the reason I did two sessions and I stopped. I was like: 'Look, these guys, they don't relate.' And, to be honest, no other athlete has done what I've done, so I don't know why I'm taking advice from them. So I was like: 'OK, well, the only person who can help me is myself.''
For a long time the four defining cities of Raducanu's life were listed in her biographies across her social media platforms. Her parents, Ion and Renee, originally come from Bucharest, Romania, and Shenyang, China, respectively while she was born in Toronto, Canada, and grew up in London, England. Her mother's solo immigration from China to Canada has been an inspirational tale throughout her life. 'I would say it's funny when people ask where you're from,' she says. 'Obviously, I feel British. I've grown up there, But there are certain things, the way I think, I don't think I am completely. So you have a little question about your identity. But I try not to read too much into it and try to just take the best from all the different worlds that I've been exposed to and grown up in.'
Regardless of the subject at hand, Raducanu frequently notes the support and significance of her parents. She describes her upbringing as rigid and strict, but their tough love has made her the person she is today. 'I was always brought up with really high standards, high expectations of myself, not much sympathy,' says Raducanu. 'So when I was younger, that was tough, and even now. But I think it really shaped me to be the player I am, the person I am; pretty down to earth. They never got impressed by anything glitzy or high or anything.'
Both Raducanu's parents worked in finance and they passed on their numerical, logical mindsets. Over the past few years, however, part of her evolution as an adult has been understanding herself as a person. Her injury layoff in 2023, which initially seemed like a catastrophe, turned out to be essential for her personal development. Raducanu spent her time away from tennis travelling, including a long trip to China, trying different hobbies and gradually learning more about herself. She learned that she is also creative, which has significantly influenced her playing style on the court. 'I kind of discovered the more artistic side – the piano, the painting, the reading, the philosophy, all of those things,' she says. 'I really think it opened my eyes to another world. Now I'm kind of seeing how I can find an area where those two intersect, and have the creative side but also have the quantitative side.'
With age and experience, Raducanu also has a greater understanding of her preferences when making general decisions. While discussing her decision making, Raducanu's mind shifts to another source of criticism: her coaching history. 'I'm a lot more clear on what I do and don't like,' she says. 'The experiences that I've had with different coaches … People love to say I've had so many different coaches but if I went into the details of a lot of them, people would not be saying the same thing. I just don't do that, because I don't want to 'out' these people. So I keep it to myself.'
Is it ever tempting? 'When you see things like: 'Oh, Emma on her ninth coach', I'm like: 'Guys, come on.' Certain ones don't count. If you've had a trial, you don't have to carry on after the trial. A few have been trials, a few have been other situations. I just try and take the high road,' she says. Then she laughs. 'And try to do what the royal family would do.'
After years of rolling with the punches and gradually coming to understand herself, Raducanu seems to finally be in a positive place again. She speaks effusively about the great enjoyment she has found in her consistent daily work and she has thrown herself into becoming the best player she can be each day. Raducanu's results are reflective of that shift and her ranking is on the rise. Her time in Cincinnati, her first week with her new coach, Francisco Roig, ended with a colossal three-hour battle with Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, where she narrowly lost 7-6 (5) in the final set. Over the next few days, she will return to New York for the US Open more self-assured than she has been since she won the title.
Our second conversation ends with a final question on Raducanu's ambitions for the next few years beyond her results. After a beat, she shrugs. The hope, she says, is that the passion and joy she now feels each day about her daily work will endure. 'I want to continue for the next few years to just keep enjoying because I would rather not do anything else or be anywhere else,' she says. 'I see my friends, like, somewhere in the south of France, and they're chilling on a boat or whatever, and I'm just like: 'OK, well, it looks amazing,' but when I'm putting in double session practices with the people around laughing, that fills me up so much more. So I'm really happy to have gotten to this place and [I want] to just continue that.'