Raducanu pays the price of expectations on a tough circuit

Staying on top of the wave in tennis is very complicated, much more so in a women’s circuit where equality prevailswith very few players who are able to maintain stability and dominate. It is now suffered by a 19-year-old girl who has not been able to endorse the resounding success she obtained in the last US Open, when she was champion with incredible authority. She is Emma Raducanuwho fell this Sunday in the third round of the WTA 1,000 in Indian Wells. The British could not maintain the level to finish off a match that was put in her favor against Petra Martic and fell 6-7 (3), 6-4 and 7-5 in 1h21. And she had suffered two days ago to overcome France’s Garcia in three sets. Since she triumphed in New York she has been fired at the first of three tournaments and the second of two others. She could only win two matches in a row in the 250 in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) before losing in the quarterfinals against the Ukrainian Kostyuk.

It is not easy, especially being so young, to meet the expectations generated with a great performance like the one he had in the North American Open. Contracts, fame, social networks and the media noise that was generated around him, especially in the United Kingdom, have taken their toll. He said it Paula Badosathe Spaniard who suffered in her early years from this type of thing, a few days ago: “When I think of young players like Emma and Carlos Alcaraz, I want them to try not to pay too much attention to what they can see there, because it could hurt them a lot. As well as they do on the tennis court, I am concerned that they are not yet ready to bear all the weight and pressures that social media inevitably brings.”

A recent example of how hard it is to stay on top is that of the American Sofia Kenin, champion at the 2020 Australian Open, when she beat Garbiñe Muguruza in the final, and now sunk in 127th place in the ranking when she became number 4 in the world. She is 23 years old and at the BNP Paribas Open she did not pass the first round when she was defeated by the Brazilian Haddad Maia.

Swiatek suffers, but passes

Swiatek, who has managed to be among the best after winning Roland Garros in 2020, is fourth in the standings and is already in the second round, although she struggled to get through to the promising 18-year-old Danish Clara Tauson (6-7 ( 3), 6-2 and 6-1 at 2h18). The 20-year-old from Poland is one of the top seeds who have been able to reach the fourth game. They have already fallen, in addition to Raducanu (11th), Cornet (33rd), Zidansek (19th), Pliskova (7th), Tauson herself (29th), Svitolina (12th), Bencic (22nd), Muguruza (8th), Ostapenko ( 10th), Pegula (14th), Jabeur (9th) and Sabalenka (2nd). Another proof of how close the WTA tennis is.

Indian Wells Masters 1,000 results.