Emma Raducanu shares ambitious aim.
By Richard Paglaro | @TennisNow | Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Emma Raducanu achieved a record-setting run winning the 2021 US Open championship.
The 21-year-old Raducanu has shared her ultimate tennis goal: Win Wimbledon.
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In a new interview with Marie Claire UK, Raducanu said winning Wimbledon someday is her top tennis aim.
“Long term, I want to win Wimbledon. That’s my number one goal,” Raducanu told Marie Claire UK. “But in the short term, I just want to keep staying healthy and improving my skills.
“Working on the actual development of them rather than any immediate results – that’s my priority right now.”
Injuries, several surgeries, multiple coaching changes, massive pressure and some self-doubts took a toll on Raducanu in recent years since she made history in Flushing Meadows.
At the 2021 US Open, the 18-year-old Raducanu electrified the tennis world defeating 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez to become the first qualifier—male or female—to win a Grand Slam singles title. She did it without surrendering a set.
The teenager became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles championship since Virginia Wade won the 1977 Wimbledon championship. Wade was on hand for many of Raducanu’s US Open matches, including the final.
Prior to the start of the 2024 Wimbledon, Raducanu was ranked No. 135. Raducanu’s fourth-round run at SW19 last month, including wins over Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari, followed by her Washington, DC quarterfinal run has boosted her ranking to No. 69.
Raducanu said self-belief and a sense of perspective have helped her navigate the tough times in her career and remain positive about her future.
“I think it’s very easy in tennis to panic, and I’m guilty of it. You feel like you only have 10 years of your career ahead of you, and that it’s going to be over before you know it,” Raducanu told Marie Claire UK. “Sometimes 21 feels so old, and then I remember that in the timeline of my career I still have 10 years of slams ahead of me – even 15 if I really want.
“And while it goes by very quickly, I’ve only had three years on tour so far, so there’s a lot more learning and developing to do,” Raducanu said. “There’s also a big chunk of life that happens after tennis. We think when we hit 35, our life is over, but there is so much still to come – many people are just starting their life at that point.
“So, of course I want to make the most out of the years that I have on tour, but I also need to keep in perspective that there are other things in life than just tennis.”
