Former British tennis player and doubles world No. 13 Colin Fleming is warning Emma Raducanu that she simply can’t allow herself to be having a Madrid-like performance or otherwise it could turn into a very negative habit.
Between April 12-13, Raducanu’s heroics led Great Britain to a big road win over France in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers. Then last week, Raducanu continued her fine form in Stuttgart by winning two matches and competing well in a tight quarterfinal defeat to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
After Raducanu drew positive attention to herself and started looking much more serious with her game and results, she stunningly lost 2-6 2-6 to qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the Madrid first round. Following a lackluster performance against Carle, Raducanu blamed physical and mental tiredness on her defeat.
Emma Raducanu © Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
In Sky Sports studio, British Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong criticized Raducanu over “emotionally checking out” in the last few games and told the 21-year-old that she should have skipped the tournament if she felt she wasn’t prepared to play.
Fleming warns Raducanu what she must avoid
“What she doesn’t want to do is go and play more, put in more performances like that, because then it becomes a bit of a habit. You’ve got to almost try and wipe the slate clean and make better decisions,” Fleming said on Sky Sports after Keothavong’s statement.
Emma Raducanu © Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
Meanwhile, here’s what Raducanu said after her defeat.
“The last few weeks have been a lot. Starting from the Billie Jean King Cup, I haven’t stopped,” Raducanu said after the match.
“It’s just been back-to-back and I was very happy being able to help carry the team in the BJK Cup, then straight to Stuttgart with no rest, then straight here and trying to adapt to the conditions which are very different because it’s outdoors and I was playing indoors for the last month.
“Many factors have made it very difficult to fully compete today but overall I’ve been playing pretty well.”
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