Andy Roddick says he is an Emma Raducanu fan and the first to tell that the 21-year-old is being "treated unfairly" at times but also highlights that he is not impressed with the Briton seemingly avoiding playing qualifying for whatever reason.
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Throughout 2022 and 2023, the 21-year-old had no difficulties receiving wildcards wherever she wanted to play. But during this year's clay season, it changed after the Rome Open and French Open organizers overlooked the British tennis player for a wildcard - she responded by simply skipping both tournaments.
At the time, Raducanu was criticized for deliberately missing a Grand Slam while fully healthy but she defended her decision by claiming that she wanted to put major focus on preparing well for the grass season. But after the same happened during this past North American hard-court swing and the former world No. 10 missed Toronto and Cincinnati after not receiving many draw wildcards, that's when the scrutiny came again and the "diva" label resurfaced.
However, the Briton stood behind her decision and insisted that she had a couple of weeks of strong practice and that she knew what she was doing. But then, she suffered a first-round defeat to Sofia Kenin at Flushing Meadows and it didn't take long before the critics started using that loss as an argument that they were right about everything they were claiming about the 21-year-old's scheduling.
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Roddick: Raducanu doesn't do herself any favors with her scheduling
After the British tennis star made the Nottingham semifinal and reached the Wimbledon round-of-16, she didn't hide that she was happy with her grass season and that she was determined to make more noise on hard courts. But she ended up playing just two tournaments and going 2-2.
"I am a fan of hers and I think sometimes she gets treated unfairly and also she doesnt do herself any favors with scheduling and decisions. I cant figure out where Im at with it. Its like she wont play qualies at all for whatever reason, pulled out of the French [Open] once she had to play qualies and its not a good look when someone who has the pedigree of Naomi Osaka decides to play qualies in Cincinnati and shes not too proud to do it," the American said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
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"But Raducanu has a great run I feel like she almost creates her own speed bumps and getting back to where she wants to go. Wimbledon, she plays well for a minute. I was like, Gosh, is this going to, like, is she going to make a run? All of a sudden kind of disappear and then come back and make a run again. DC she plays, makes semis but gets through a bunch of matches and then doesnt get wildcards so she goes home for three weeks, doesnt play anymore."
What Raducanu said about playing qualifying?
After coming to the US Open, the former world No. 10 spoke with the BBC and she was directly asked to address the claims that she wasn't interested in playing qualifying. She insisted that she had nothing against playing qualifying but the circumstances weren't the best.
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"I really wanted to play in Toronto, especially because I was born there, but the turnaround was too tight for qualifying. I would have had to play on Sunday and I finished [in Washington] late Friday night, so flying there and adjusting I just felt was too tight. Otherwise, I just always do things a little bit differently," Raducanu told BBC Sport last month.
"I think playing qualies is not something that I am against, because if you get through those two rounds you feel you're adjusted to the court. If you're playing a seed, you have a better eye for the ball, a better feel - it's not that I am against it at all. It was just that I would have pretty much had to wait around just for one tournament in qualies and then another week off before the US Open - so I think it was a better decision we all made to just go back and work on things there."
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Meanwhile, the 2021 US Open champion is returning to action this week at the WTA 500 tournament in Seoul. In her opener at the tournament, the 21-year-old will take on Peyton Stearns, the same opponent she beat in two sets in Washington a month and a half ago.
Two years ago, Raducanu had a memorable Seoul as she reached her first WTA semifinal there
