Young Raducanu opens up about her struggles

Injury-hit tennis star Emma Raducanu has said she sometimes wishes her shock 2021 US Open victory never happened as she struggled to meet the physical and mental demands placed upon her.
The Canadian-born British player was only 18 when she stormed to an incredible Grand Slam title in New York without dropping a set as a qualifier.
However, Raducanu has failed to hit those heights again as injuries and a series of coaching changes have taken their toll over the past two years.
Raducanu, now 20, will miss Wimbledon and the US Open after having wrist and ankle surgery and has dropped to 128th in the world rankings.
It remains to be seen whether Raducanu, who has been displaced as British number one by Katie Boulter, will play again this year following her double surgery.
And she admitted her desire not to seem weak to a newly-appointed coach saw her play through the pain and make the injury worse while also revealing how she suffered mentally.
“That moment on the court, when I was celebrating (the US Open win), I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment,” Raducanu told The Times.
“Anything can come my way, I will take it for what I have right now because this is the best thing in the world. I promised myself that, on the court that day.
“Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other. I am resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself ‘I wish I’d never won the US Open, I wish that didn’t happen’.
“Then I am like, ‘remember that feeling, remember that promise’, because it was completely pure.” Raducanu’s stunning victory saw her become one of the most commercially in-demand sportswomen in the world almost overnight.
The 20-year-old counts Nike, Porsche, Vodafone and Dior among her sponsors.
However, Raducanu said she has had to grew up quickly on the WTA Tour to avoid being used as a “piggy bank”.
“The Tour is completely brutal,” she added. “What I have realised in the past two years, the tour and everything that comes with it, it’s not a very nice, trusting and safe space.
“You have to be on guard because there are a lot of sharks out there. I think people in the industry, especially with me because I was 19, now 20, they see me as a piggy bank. It has been difficult to navigate. I have been burned a few times. I have learned, keep your circle as small as possible.”
Kyrgios pulls out of Halle with knee injury, hopes to play at Wimbledon
Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of the Halle tournament in Germany due to an ongoing issue with his knee and the Australian said yesterday he wanted to give his body every chance to be ready for the grasscourt Grand Slam.
The 28-year-old underwent surgery on a left knee injury earlier in the year and was beaten in his comeback match after a five-month layoff when he fell to China’s Wu Yibing in the Stuttgart Open first round last week.
He had trouble with his movement during that match and the problem has now forced Kyrgios to pull out of the ATP 500 event in Halle, where he reached the semi-finals in 2022.
“Very unfortunate news. I won’t be able to compete at Halle this year,” Kyrgios said in a video released by the organisers of the tournament.
“I’m still dealing with a couple of things with my knee.
“Just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon.
“As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body.
“I didn’t want to go out there and not give you the same performance I gave last year.
“So hopefully next year I’ll be healthy enough to play (at Halle). See you soon,” he added.
The world number 31 will be replaced in the Halle draw by lucky loser Aslan Karatsev, organisers added.
The Wimbledon build-up tournament began earlier yesterday.
Kyrgios, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last year, had previously played a singles match in October in Tokyo and pulled out of the Australian Open in January in the leadup to the tournament.
He missed the French Open due to a foot injury he sustained during the theft of his car last month.