Emma Raducanu says sometimes she wishes she never won the US Open, says she has been ‘burnt a few times’

Emma Raducanu has criticised “sharks” who “see me as a piggy bank” and admitted she has sometimes wished she never won the US Open after being “burnt a few times”.

Raducanu became an overnight sensation when she defied all odds to come through qualifying and win her first major aged 18 in September 2021 in New York.

The Brit’s miraculous run saw her become the first qualifier to win a major in the Open era, the youngest women’s singles Grand Slam winner since 2004 and the first British woman to win the tournament since Virginia Wade in 1968 – and she did so without dropping a set.

However, Raducanu has since struggled with the pressure of living up to those standards, facing issues with form and fitness as she slid to a current ranking of world No. 128.

“When I won I was extremely naive,” Raducanu told The Sunday Times.

“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 burnt a few times. I have learnt, keep your circle as small as possible.”

She added: “The pain [in the wrists] escalated last summer after Wimbledon.

“I started with a new coach and I was really motivated to get going. We were overtraining, a lot of repetition, and I carried on even through pain because I didn’t want to be perceived as weak.”

Looking back on her triumph at Flushing Meadows, Raducanu said: “That moment on the court, when I was celebrating, I was like, I would literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment.

“Anything can come my way, I will take it for what I have right now. 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 was also honest about the brutality of life on tour and dealing with intense mental pressure at such a young age.

“I was struggling with the physical pain but the mental side of it was really difficult for me too,” she said.

“I always want to put forward the best version of myself, or strive for that, but I knew I couldn’t. I very much attach my self-worth to my achievements. If I lost a match I would be really down, I would have a day of mourning, literally staring at the wall. I feel things so passionately and intensely.

“I was under so much pressure to perform, people had no idea what was going on and I had to have this façade, to keep everything inside. It has been really hard.

“And then to be scrutinised for it when they don’t know what is going on. I am very young and still learning and making mistakes.

“It is a lot harder when you are making mistakes in front of everyone and everyone has something to say about it. The tour is completely brutal.”