Wimbledon: Emma Raducanu

[fallenangle]

Big new British (sort of) hope in womens' tennis is getting a lot of press coverage here.

Eighteen years old and she can definitely play the game but is she going to be a flash in the pan or a real long term contender?

Discuss.

If she proceeds any further just in this year's Wimbledon she could become very rich, very quickly. She ticks so many boxes the advertising industry must be champing at the bit to get their claws into her even now.

[prinnysquad]

Seems a talented woman and plays without fear. She’ll progress as long as the vile media doesn’t overhype, corrupt, and then demolish.

Ha! Who am I kidding? She’ll have to try and progress despite all that inevitable crap.

[Anpanman]

She's great, pursuing her studies incase the tennis isn't successful, first British woman in a long while to have so many attributes for a hopefully successful career.

Separately, pity Nick's out.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Time will tell on Raducanu, but it's a hell of a run at SW19 that she's on - hats off to her.

FYI, we do have a Tennis Thread that wasn't erased!

https://bordersdown.net/threads/88374-The-Tennis-Thread

[charlesr]

I watched the match today. She dominated although struggled to get the breaks when it counted. One of the games was 15 minutes long Quite exciting to watch

[fallenangle]

Seeing her in the last match reminded me of Maria Sharapova when she won Wimbledon at 17 years old. Very different type of player but I'd seen MS two or three years before that playing in the juniors competition which they covered on the BBC. That was because the typically bad British summer weather had forced an extension of the tournament and they needed something to fill up the extra air time before the delayed big games.

I remember being wowed at how good she was then as a 14 or 15 year old and thought she'd could go far not expecting it to be quite so soon afterwards.

I suspect the current Emma Raducanu bubble will burst in the next round but I hope I'm wrong. With Murray being past his best and the 'top' British women players: J.Konta and Heather Watson regularly disappointing or not even competing it would be good to have somebody else in the pipeline with potential.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/tennis/raducanu-retires-from-wimbledon-due-to-difficulty-breathing/ar-AALO4tt?ocid=spartan-dhp-feeds

And out - almost feels like a COVID outcome is on the way

[QualityChimp]

It's a real shame she had to retire because she was playing really well.
Hopefully she's got a long career ahead of her and manages to bounce back from this.

[fallenangle]

Hate to say it but John McEnroe's honest, if impolitic, comments were probably correct. It was too much for her and with the weight of public expectation on her shoulders she had either a panic or anxiety attack.

Those are very real things, essentially an overwhelming adrenaline response, and something it is very difficult to control. Both can affect your breathing causing hyperventilation which it seems is pretty much what happened. She knew she was going to lose and that was the trigger.

Pity but if she's as good as she appears to be and can get that sort of, understandable, response under control I think we'll probably see her again doing well in the future.

[QualityChimp]

LOOOL Piers Morgan dishing out advice on toughening up and accepting criticism, rather than quitting.

"McEnRoE tOlD tHe TrUtH. mS rAdUcUnA’S a TaLeNtEd PlAyEr BuT cOuLdN’T hAnDlE tHe PrEsSuRe & qUiT wHeN sHe WaS lOsInG bAdLy. NoT ‘BrAvE’, JuSt A sHaMe. If I wErE hEr, I’D tElL mY fAnS tO sToP aBuSiNg McEnRoE, & SeEk HiS aDvIcE oN hOw To ToUgHeN uP & BeCoMe A cHaMpIoN lIkE hE wAs." - Piers Morgan

[MartyG]

Don't think we should be giving that poisonous scrote any publicity at all by promoting his tweets, even in this thread.

[QualityChimp]

Don't think we should be giving that poisonous scrote any publicity at all by promoting his tweets, even in this thread.

Fair point.

I've edited my post to remove the link to his tweet, but made a direct, unedited quote.

[nakamura]

I've not had full view of McEnroe's words but it definitely looks like she has a panic attack of sorts. Nothing wrong with that too. Hope if so she can master it because she has lots of ability.

[fallenangle]

I enjoyed seeing my thoughts about Emma Raducanu were correct and that she would not just be a flash in the pan at Wimbledon this year. Winning the US Open only a couple of months later is somewhat impressive, to say the least.

Last time I was so struck by the performance of a young women's tennis pro was way back with Maria Sharapova who I had seen play in the juniors a couple of years before she won Wimbledon at 17 years old. She went on to become at one time the wealthiest female sports star in the world until injury and a bad decision spoiled her reputation.

Emma Raducanu I think could be bigger than Maria Sharapova or the current top earning female tennis player: Naomi Osaka, if she's managed well. As I said back in early July she ticks so many boxes, the advertising industry will be offering her silly money for endorsements from now on.

Lucky girl although, of course, most of it is not luck.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Hats off to Miss Raducanu for what is clearly the great British sporting achievement of recent times, never mind this year. BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021 is clearly a wrap.

That said...it is worth noticing that she clearly enjoyed being away from the spotlight that she was under at Wimbledon. Next summer at the All-England Club will be incredibly interesting to see if she really can cope with the intense spotlight and increased expectations.

Then again, who's to say she can't emulate Andy Murray and follow up a US Open win by becoming a home Wimbledon Champion? The sky's the limit with her talent.