Emma Raducanu remains determined to make some noise this year as the British tennis star shared a very inspiring quote from late NBA legend Kobe Bryant as she suggests that she is willing to lay it all out there and even suffer if that is going to lead to the Promised Land.
Since late 2024, the 2021 US Open champion has spoken several times about her desire to play much more this year and ultimately elevate her game to a new level.
Also, when she hired Maria Sharapova's former fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura, she stated that she "could become one of the best athletes on the WTA Tour"
However, Raducanu's start to the 2025 season wasn't an absolute catastrophe but it wasn't ideal either - she was forced to miss Auckland due to a back injury before losing 6-1 6-0 to Iga Swiatek in the Australian Open third round.
The world No. 61 may have suffered one of the worst defeats of her career just a couple of days earlier but seemingly it hasn't impacted a bit her goals and expectations for this year.
"Deciding to have the hardest year can be the greatest year of your life," the Bryant quote that the 22-year-old reposted read.
Raducanu vowed to learn from the Swiatek loss
Against the Pole, nothing worked in the Briton's game and she didn't hide that the scoreline was "harsh" after she lost the last 11 games of the match.
I think today, credit to Iga, she played good tennis, but I think it was a little bit of her playing well and me not playing so well. That combination is probably not good and resulted in today," the British tennis player said.
The scoreline was obviously quite harsh. I feel like I look back and know exactly what I need to do, and I take it as feedback.
Next week, Raducanu will be returning to action at the WTA 250 tournament in Singapore.
