Emma Raducanu described her pressure as “a joke” after breaking out of her third consecutive Grand Slam in the second round of her defeat to Caroline Garcia.
Since Raducanu’s astonishing victory at September’s US Open, her world fame has consistently surpassed her performance levels. So did all the whining and anticipation contribute to Wednesday’s listless performance? She mocked the very proposal.
It’s true that Raducanu was the victim of an impressive performance of Garcia’s first stroke tennis. But when she arrived in the interview room and faced several questions about life in the spotlight, Raducanu described the idea of pressure as “a joke”.
“I’m 19 years old,” she replied. “Yes, I got attention. But I’m a slam champion, so no one’s going to take it away from me. Yes, if anything, the pressure is on those who have not. Like, why is there any pressure? This is a joke. I literally won a slam. ”
Raducanu was barely competitive in Wednesday’s game and showed nothing of the proactivity we remember from New York last fall. A disgruntled Center Court crowd had to find encouragement where they could, and once offered an ovation when she missed a first service and plucked Garcia’s irrelevant return with her left hand from the air.
Instead of pressure being a factor in her 6-3, 6-3 defeat – which took place in just 86 minutes – Raducanu pointed to a number of physical factors that prevented her from establishing her rhythm.
First, she admitted that she struggled with the wind, which blew strongly towards the Royal Box and possibly contributed to four of her five failed service matches getting to that point. And then she also referred to the side tension that allowed her to build up just seven hours of court time over the past month.
At her post-match press conference, Raducanu was also asked if her opponents had worked out her game, after being led into a trap by her sudden appearance last summer. It was a point that was also made by her opponent. “Everyone knows you when you are doing well, what happened to her,” says Garcia, the French woman ranked as high as No4 in the world.
Raducanu agreed with Garcia’s statement, adding that “it will make me a better player because they [her rivals] just highlight all my weaknesses. If you do it like this on a big track, it will definitely be magnified. It’s just great for me to get all these lessons at such a young age, so that when I’m in my mid-20s, I’ll sort out those problems or small mistakes in my game. ”