Cut Raducanu a little slack and allow our new hero the odd slip
EMMA RADUCANU returns to the tennis court this week when she swaps the red carpet of the James Bond film premiere for the hard courts of Indian Wells. It is not every day you have the chance to meet a British icon at the Royal Albert Hall – what a thrill it must have been for Daniel Craig – but the whirlwind of the glamorous world that has opened up for Raducanu finally stops for her on Thursday.
Normal tennis service will take some attuning to.
Since her astonishing Grand Slam title win as a qualifier at the US Open, she has been to the Met Gala in New York with Jennifer Lopez and Billie Eilish, had a knock-up on the court with the Duchess of Cambridge, signed a deal to become a house ambassador for Tiffany and Co and has even become a Spitting Image puppet.
It is head-spinning stuff for an 18-year-old, even one as grounded as Raducanu.
Most of this will have been great fun – ‘pinch me, is this really happening?’ stuff – but perhaps in the brief interludes there has been a realisation too that her life will no longer be as simple as it was as a Kent sixth-former.
It has been a long time since any British sports star made such an impact. Everyone wants a piece of her.this will not always be a comfortable experience for Raducanu.
I once interviewed a high-profile young sportsman over lunch in a country pub.
Nice place, decent food, respectable clientele. He turned up wearing a cap. I thought it was just a fashion statement until I realised how far it was pulled down. It was to cover as much of his face as possible but the attempt at anonymity lasted less than five minutes.
“That guy has clocked me.watch what happens now,” he said, miserably, glancing across the room but avoiding eye contact.
Sure enough the man nudged his mate next to him who let the person across the table know too and before long, it was like being an exhibit in a case.
Two people came up to ask for a photo with him while he was eating. He gritted his teeth, put down his knife and fork and smiled for the camera.
“That’s my life now,” he said, when they had gone.the constant doubletakes and the pressure to look good whenever she goes out will be there now for Raducanu, alongside the requests for money for made-up good causes and signed memorabilia destined for ebay.
For female sports stars, in particular, some of the attention that comes their way can be downright creepy.
GROWN men at courtside asking for used wristbands after matches? At the US Open she would make a point of having them handed to kids instead. In one sense, the tennis court will be a welcome haven for Raducanu. It is an environment she knows and is comfortable in but it is also still a classroom for her.
Despite being a Grand Slam champion, she has precious little experience as a tennis professional.
This will be her first appearance at Indian Wells, just as it will be at the Australian Open in January and Roland Garros next summer. New surfaces, new opponents, new environments... an acclimatisation period is only natural.
She has wisely taken her time plotting the immediate next phase of her career and the route she has come up with is a sound, if geographically diverse, one.
After the Californian desert, she heads for Russia and then Romania for indoor tournaments.the latter, the Transylvania Open, has a particular pull, given her Romanian heritage.
If all goes well, she could then qualify for the season-endingwta finals in Mexico in November.
But don’t bank on her making it to Guadalajara. Consistency is rarely part of a teenager’s armoury.
Expectations may have gone through the roof given what she has achieved already but it is wrong simply to expect her to pick up where she left off on that dream run in New York.
If there is a slip here or there, let’s cut her some slack. It won’t be a crisis.this is still a learning phase.
Raducanu is going to be around for a long time.there is no rush to greatness.