Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RADICAL THINKING
Defending champ Emma: I will NEVER again be that 18-year-old kid ...but I CAN feel her mindset returning
EMMA RADUCANU has revealed that she feels like a “different person” from the 18-year-old who won the US Open title a year ago.
But after watching inspiring reruns of her New York triumph, the British No.1 declared she is close to recapturing the same on-court “attitude” that shocked the tennis world.
The life of the A-level student has since changed dramatically, with Forbes this week listing her earnings at £17.9million through sponsorship from Tiffany, British Airways, Dior, Porsche and Nike.
Her tennis has been less profitable, with injuries and form combining to see her win only 15 matches in 18 tournaments.
But Raducanu showed glimpses of her old New York form with victories over former world No.1s Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka at the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month.
And the world No.11 said she’d learned lessons from her 2021 US Open run – and her ruthless final victory over Leylah Fernandez.
She said: “I’ve watched that match a lot of times and other matches from the tournament.
“In the final I see my demeanour and my facial expressions and how I am. In the past year the only time I’ve come close to the same sort of attitude on the court was in Cincinnati.
“I was extremely calm, I wasn’t being very expressive but I was super-focused and not shifting from that sort of mindset, and that really helped me.
“In a lot of ways I do feel like a different person now.
“A lot of stuff has happened. I’m probably not going to be the same 18-year-old that is just swinging, no one knows who she is... and it’s OK to not be, because I’m maturing as a player and people know my game.
“It’s not the same, and I’m not going to try and make it the same, because you have got to start new.”
Raducanu admits that time to herself “doesn’t exist” these days.
She said: “I am really fortunate and have a lot of amazing opportunities that come my way but for sure that comes with a certain trade-off.
“You don’t have any time to switch off or be alone or do things that you want to do. You’re constantly on guard.
“But that comes with what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved, and I would not trade it for anything.” So does Raducanu miss the person she used to be?
“Yeah of course,” she said. “There are moments in the year when I did lose that person and I got very caught up in certain things. But I’m still young. It’s just going to happen. Everyone at this sort of age is going through things.”
She added: “It’s all normal, so I’m fine with that.”
Raducanu is set to play her tricky first match in defence of her US Open title against Alize Cornet at midnight UK time on Tuesday.
French star Cornet will be making a record 63rd consecutive appearance in a Major. Raducanu said: “Whatever happens for me this week, it’s going to be like a fresh start. You’ve taken it, you close a chapter, and you start a new one.
“The only way is to look back at what worked, what didn’t work, and then take that forward in terms of what you’re going to use for the coming months, the coming years on the tour.”