Raducanu fans lay into her 2022 and have doubts over top 10 return

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Emma Raducanu has been told that she will not regain her stance as a top 10 player by Express Sport readers. Responding to a survey, over a quarter of participants feel that the 19-year-old had a ‘terrible’ 2022.

Expectations were high for Raucanu heading into this year after she claimed a shock victory in the 2021 US Open. However, she has fallen well below those and left many questioning whether the teenager will ever regain her winning form.

Raducanu failed to progress past the second round of any major tournaments this year, meaning that she has tumbled down the world rankings and now sits in 80th – having previously been 10th following her victory at Flushing Meadow.

In a survey completed by 2,649 Express readers, 68.7% of respondents replied ‘No’ when asked ‘Do you think Raducanu will be a top 10 player again?’ The Brit spent significant periods of this year nursing injury problems, with leg and back issues causing her trouble.

A wrist injury sustained ahead of the start of the Transylvania Open, which forced her to withdraw from the competition just two days before it was set to begin, has been the final injury for Raducanu this season as she has revealed that she will spend the rest of the year returning to fitness. And Express Sport readers do not think she will look back on 2022 fondly.

Asked ‘How do you rate Emma Raducanu’s 2022?’, 35.9% of readers selected ‘poor’. Others took a harsher view, with 27.5% of people voting ‘terrible, with 24.3% taking a more neutral view and opting for ‘average.

Only 9.9% of respondents felt that Raducanu had a ‘good’ year, with a mere 2.4% of voters feeling that she had a ‘great’ season. The apparent lack of faith in the young prospect will certainly relieve some of the pressure on the shoulders of the Toronto-born star, though former women’s world No 1 Kim Clijsters feels it is only a matter of time before Raducanu proves her class once more.

She told Eurosport earlier this year: “She’s young, she’s a very smart girl, she’s a very talented player, works hard, has an open mindset to learn and to improve so she has all the ingredients to become a good player, it’s just taken her a little time to adjust. There’s a certain type of pressure that you put on yourself. The pressure that comes with being a defending champion.”

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