Emma Raducanu faces long wait as fans suggest main area of concern

Emma Raducanu ‘really sad’ to leave US Open after first-round loss

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Emma Raducanu is facing a long wait before she wins another Grand Slam title, according to Express Sport readers. And her struggles on the court have been put down to coaching. The 19-year-old won the US Open last year in what was only her second appearance at a major tournament – but she has since been unable to live up to her early hype amid a string of early Grand Slam exits.

Raducanu came through three qualifying matches at Flushing Meadows last year and went on to get the better of seven more opponents to win the US Open title as an 18-year-old. And she tasted success without dropping a single set throughout the tournament.

But she was then only able to reach the second round at this year’s Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon amid a precipitous downturn in fortunes. Last week, the now 19-year-old was comprehensively dispatched by Alize Cornet in the first round of the US Open. And she faces an uphill battle to hit the heights that were widely expected of her this time last year.

With Raducanu’s issues on the court showing no signs of assuaging any time soon, we polled our readers to see if they could put their fingers on the problem. And a staggering 45.4 per cent of them believe the ace’s biggest concern should be her coaching.

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Raducanu worked with Nigel Sears at last year’s Wimbledon, before being steered to US Open success by Andrew Richardson. The teenager then worked with Torben Beltz for five months, before the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) supported her by giving her access to the likes of Louis Cayer, Iain Bates and Jane O’Donoghue. And following a brief spell with American Raymond Sarmiento, Raducanu then opted to team up with Russian coach Dmitry Tursunov earlier this summer.

Raducanu’s coaching churn is clearly unusual at such a significant part of her career. And our readers think it’s getting in the way of her development. Meanwhile, 24.9 per cent of respondents think the youngster should be most concerned about her form, with 18.4 per cent of them saying her injury problems are her greatest worry. But only 11.2 per cent think her technique is the issue.

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Raducanu was tipped to win a string of Grand Slams after storming to glory in New York. But a whopping 59.1 per cent of Express Sport readers now believe she will have to wait until 2026 at the earliest to get her hands on another major trophy.

Only 8.6 per cent of people think she’ll win a Grand Slam next year, with 18.9 per cent of readers predicting a trophy in 2024 and 13.4 per cent backing her for glory in 2025.

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