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Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu will be the most-watched player at Flushing Meadows at the end of the month, with the whole world waiting to see if the teenager can recreate her miraculous US Open run from last year.
However, the chances of the Brit living up to the enormous expectations placed on her are looking very remote, seeing as she has won only 11 out of her 25 matches in 2022 so far. With 2000 points at stake at the New York Major, Raducanu's future very much hangs in the balance.
Speaking at her press conference ahead of her opener at the Cincinnati Open, the World No. 11, however, did not appear bothered by the enormity of the situation.
Recalling how she won the 2021 edition of the US Open as a qualifier, Raducanu declared that she was confident in her ability to pull off another bolt from the blue even if she falls down the rankings due to a poor showing in New York.
“If I lose 2,000 points so be it, I’ll start again from the bottom. I know I can do something that no one else has done," Emma Raducanu said. "I qualified and won the US Open, so I can start from the beginning, I can start from zero and I’m not afraid of that."
The teenager's comments that she was not afraid to "start from zero" resonated with a lot of tennis fans on social media, who heaped praise on her for the mental fortitude she displayed. One fan thought the same, posting:
"You don’t have to like Emma, or even think she’s going to be successful in the future, but you can’t deny her mentality. She knows where she really is, how her game is right now, she isn’t operating under any delusions she’s the best in the world, she’s still working hard."
Another fan blamed the media for repeatedly asking such questions to the Brit, to the point where she sounded like a "broken record," tweeting:
"The journalists make her sound like a broken records, mainly because she's constantly asked the same questions."
For the most part, fans agreed with Raducanu, suggesting that a drop in the rankings would prove beneficial to her since it would allow her to play with significantly less pressure. One fan posted on the same:
"Legit think it would help [Emma Raducanu] to take a fall in the rankings and have to work her way back up. A bit less pressure and this time she can have a more natural progression and her ranking will be more indicative of her level and so expectations will be more aligned."
Here are a few more reactions:
Emma Raducanu kicks off her 2022 Cincinnati Open campaign against Serena Williams
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu will kick off her 2022 Cincinnati Open campaign, the last tournament in the lead-up to the US Open, with a first-round clash against Serena Williams. This is the first time the teenager is facing off against the 23-time Grand Slam champion, setting up a blockbuster clash on Tuesday.
The winner of the encounter will take on either Victoria Azarenka or Kaia Kanepi in the second round, with seventh seed Jessica Pegula and fourth seed Maria Sakkari likely to set up third-round and quarterfinal meetings down the road.
While second seed Anett Kontaveit is the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the draw, top seed Iga Swiatek is expected to reach the summit clash from the other half.
