'They don’t realise the margins between losing the first round and winning the tournament,' Emma Raducanu takes a sly dig at her critcs in latest interview

In a recent interview, Emma Raducanu drew comparisons between tennis and motorsports while expressing her passion for the latter. The 2021 US Open champion highlighted how Formula One and other motorsports also deal with fine margins where one mistake or wrong turn could make all the difference. She expressed her dissatisfaction with critics not understanding this.

I would say both are about fine margins and risks. People don’t really realise how small the margins are between losing the first round and winning the tournament. The similarities, I think, are being brave, taking risks and having mental strength and stamina. Mental endurance is something that people underestimate in tennis. Emma Raducanu in an interview with The Times UK

Highest-level competition has seen this happen time and again, with players who are on the brink of defeat in the first round finding their confidence in a single point and turning the tables to win entire tournaments. Similarly, in Formula 1, mere seconds may be the difference between first place and last place.

Emma Raducanu skips Rome in hopes to play Strasbourg

After a prolonged injury break that kept her out of action for a large portion of last year, Emma Raducanu was on track to make a steady comeback, having marginally better results in each successive tournament.

Her best run in over two years came in Stuttgart last month, where she gave world number one Iga Swiatek a run for her money in the quarterfinal. Swiatek scraped through 7-6(2) 6-3.

Just when Raducanu was thought to be back for good, she suffered an unfortunate and unexpected 2-6-2-6 loss to world number 82 Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in Madrid. More concerningly, the Briton withdrew from the Rome masters, and her fans were left to wonder when she would be back. 

It has been confirmed that she has sent in her entry for the WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg, although it is unclear as to whether she will get a spot in the main draw using her protected ranking of 103.

The chances of her competing there are higher if she does get a main draw entry, but fans can be optimistic about her presence in the French city.