Emma Raducanu’s chances of emulating Serena Williams assessed as she gets 2022 warning

Emma Raducanu wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year

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Emma Raducanu’s chances of winning more Grand Slam titles in the future have been rated highly, but the youngster has been warned of the pitfalls of early success. The teenager has many years of professional play ahead of her, and so has been told that she need not expect to be winning more tournaments next year.

As is often the case with breakthrough stars, there is now a large weight of expectation upon young Raducanu’s shoulders.

After all, winning the US Open as an 18-year-old qualifier is enough to ensure that the entire tennis world stands up and takes notice of you.

Raducanu did not even drop a single set between the first qualifying round and the final, showing she is capable of being entirely dominant when she is in a strong run of form.

And that came a couple of months after she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon – an incredible result considering it was her first Grand Slam tournament appearance ever.

Her struggle for form after her historic success in New York perhaps showed just how much those efforts had taken out of her body, but we now know what she is capable of when fit and firing.

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It’s exciting for British women’s tennis to have a proven contender whenever a Grand Slam tournament comes around – that hasn’t been the case since the days of Virginia Wade.

Former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych agrees that Raducanu has a chance of winning “many” more titles.

“She’s a young face of the new generation,” the retired Czech star told Sky Sports.

“There was a generation of Serena and Venus Williams where they won multiple Slams and then it was only recently we’ve seen many different Grand Slam winners.

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“Raducanu is fresh, so I think the way she played in New York was incredible. She managed to keep herself focused, so why not? She has a chance of winning many titles. It would be great for women’s tennis.

“What I learned from my career, you’re the only one who stands on court. There is no one else. Your coach or parents help train and prepare you, so the end thing is playing tennis between yourself and your opponent.”

Three-time Davis Cup winner David Ferrer echoed those sentiments, but also added a warning that Raducanu cannot expect to achieve consistent success over the next few years – she must be patient.

“She has a great future, but the most important thing is to handle the pressure because it won’t be easy when you’re young and you’ve just won a Grand Slam,” the Spaniard said.

“We’ll see how she handles the pressure next year.

“It’s going to be really important for her, but she has an amazing talent and can win [more] Grand Slams in her career.”

Raducanu was something of an unknown quantity as she tore through the field at the US Open, but she will no longer have the element of surprise on her side now everyone knows what she is capable of.

She is set to appear at next month’s Australian Open for her first attempt at making an impression in a Grand Slam tournament since that triumph at Flushing Meadows.

Her preparations have been disrupted however by a positive Covid-19 test, which saw her miss out on the Mubadala World Tennis Championships exhibition event just before Christmas.

She is expected to be flying to Australia shortly, though, to complete her quarantine period ahead of the competition which starts on January 17.

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