Emma Raducanu admits she doesn't have many friends on tour and explains why

Daily Mirror

4 days ago

Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka have both won the US Open, but the Brit has explained why she has struggled to form a friendship with the Japanese star, and others on the tour
Emma Raducanu has opened up about the challenges of forming friendships on the WTA Tour as she gears up to face Naomi Osaka for the first time. The British tennis star advanced to the second round of this week's Citi Open in Washington, where she will meet four-time Major winner Osaka.
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Parallels have been drawn between Raducanu's and Osaka's careers, with both Grand Slam champions experiencing periods of struggle and opting out of most of the 2023 season.
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However, world No. 46 Raducanu feels her journey post-US Open win involved more "dips", and she has now revealed the unfortunate reason behind her hesitation to form bonds with players like Osaka, who's last major victory came in 2021.
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Both women clinched their first major titles at Flushing Meadows. Osaka was just 20 when she triumphed over tennis legend Serena Williams in a contentious final in 2018, which saw Williams penalised by the umpire.
Fast forward three years, and Raducanu, at just 18, blitzed through the draw in only her fourth professional tournament, making history as the first qualifier to secure a Grand Slam title. Both have faced their share of turbulence since then, but Britain's No. 3 believes their introductions to the sport were markedly different.
"When I won my US Open, I came from school, I was no one, I was 200 in the world, and Naomi had already won Indian Wells. She was already a known figure on the tour, and people kind of expected, okay, like, she's going to start doing well and start winning Slams," Raducanu said.
"Whereas I think when I won, it was completely out of nowhere. It means that I didn't quite build the foundations she had when she won her Grand Slams, which I think is why she was able to repeat and win another three, back-to-back US Open and Australia.
"I think she was an established pro tour player, whereas I didn't necessarily feel that way. It's probably why I had a lot more dips afterwards."
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Raducanu remains without a title since her US Open victory four years ago, with her finest tour-level showings since then being semi-final runs. However, she can still identify with Osaka, who stepped away from the sport in 2023 to become a mother.
That same year, Raducanu cut short her campaign to undergo three operations. She added: "It's good to see the similarities now. I think we have both kind of started doing better and started enjoying the process more and enjoying developing.
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"I think it's nice that after having such big highs and then some lows to both be working towards, you know, going up again."
Despite sharing similar journeys, Raducanu has never had a conversation with the former world No. 1. The Brit prefers to keep her distance from competitors, believing friendships make matches even tougher.
"I think when we're on the tour, it's very difficult to really open up with other players that you're competing against. I think for me, I have a few friends on the tour, but it does add another dimension when you play them," she explained.
"I have really good friends at home that I can trust and speak to. For me, I just find it harder to compete against a person I'm friends with."