Raducanu's withdrawal. What can we learn from this?

Maybe.

I can remember Bjorn Borg at the start of his career, at Wimbledon, totally giving up and hitting every ball out of court to end the match.

My first thought was she had had Covid, without knowing and the effects only showing under pressure.

She looked to me like someone who was flooded with adrenaline having been waiting all day to play, the pressure must have been enormous. More experienced athletes can cope with this but it does take experience. I thought she did well and next year she will be much more in tune with herself.

Her name is Emma Raducanu. I felt sorry for her as she had such a long wait all day until the start of the match close to 8 pm last night. I do hope she learns from this experience and comes back fighting.

All these complicated explanations. She is young she is inexperienced. She did fabulously well to get as far as she did, but she made a miscalculation/did something wrong/ the pressure of the event got to her. It is what you do at her age and with her lack of experience, whether you are a he she or whatever.

Whatever the mistake she will not make it again.

I won’t speculate on the reasons for her withdrawing, as the facts aren’t known.
But I think she is a good player, who hopefully will continue and eventually be a Wimbledon champion.
I hope she makes a full recovery soon.

Far too much pressure was put on her by the media. Yes, she’s good - but that doesn’t mean she is an instant champion and the answer to British tennis’s prayers. Leave the poor girl alone.

I think the press are largely to blame for her undoing and I include the BBC coverage in this. They all went completely overboard and intruded on her and her families life. She was being hailed as the saviour of England/UK’s female tennis. They did what they usually do and pulled every aspect of her life into the public view. I am not surprised that she crumpled when you add all the hooha to the stress of going so far in the competition, the atmosphere on court, the noise etc. Then there is also the social media pressure and critics who sit and pontificate and pick her life, attitude and ability to bits. No matter how good you are at a sport and think that you can cope with the added pressures, it is not until they actually happen to you, can you find out what it is actually like.
I just hope that she is not put off the sport and manages to recoup and go on. She is only young and I hope she gets good support.

Yes grandma and bluebell. The media pressure was intense and particularly the BBC. I usually enjoy listening to Sue Barker but she really was completely ‘over the top’ in her expectations re Emma. This always happens when we get a Brit who does well at Wimbledon. The expectations on the player are ridiculously high and need to stop. Emma Raducanu played brilliantly but she is only 18 years old. She should not be expected to play under this kind of pressure. Also I think starting the match at 8pm was unfair to both players.

Peasblossom I was thinking Covid too perhaps but who knows. They have all been in bubble in a hotel.
I think possibly a result of enormous pressure put upon her contributed and I do think the timing and wait she had can’t have helped. I’m sure it will be addressed by her team and she will bounce back.
Re John McEnroe I think he put it harshly and could have worded it better but the point is if she wants to further a tennis career she will have to get used to the pressures of the game. Easy for us watching to say but I really wish her well for the future.

Emma Raducanu

You might like to ask HQ to edit your thread title, OP

Chris Evert was only 18 when she went to Wimbledon, so I think that yes she will have to get used to it, although why the press are allowed to intrude has really got to be addressed for all people in the public eye, it’s unfair and should be made illegal IMV.

However, she might be ill, if she is then hopefully John McEnroe should apologise profusely.

gweneth sorry to be pedantic but I haven’t commented yet

I would imagine as it said breathing problem it was a panic attack brought on by press intrusion being very young in the public eye and making a few mistakes
Wise of her to walk off and not try to go through it in the public eye
Good luck to her

Charleygirl5

Her name is Emma Raducanu. I felt sorry for her as she had such a long wait all day until the start of the match close to 8 pm last night. I do hope she learns from this experience and comes back fighting.

I thought that waiting all day to play was wrong.
Why can't matches start much earlier in the day so that players don't have hours of anxious build-up?

Emma Raducanu doesn't have a lot of tournament experience, perhaps didn't expect get so far and may have found it all overwhelming.
Or perhaps have had a physical problem or it could even have been something she had eaten (or perhaps not eaten).

Yes sorry about the name very lazy of me.

Dont worry grannygranby everybody knew who you meant.

She is fine now thankfully. Nobody should speculate on what caused her breathlessness. It could have been caused by a number of things.

Apologies if I have made a mistake I thought it was your comment earlier on??

She has tweeted that she became dizzy and could not breath. She said it was all too much for her.

I do hope she continues to love her sport. She demonstrated great skill.

She like, the others lower down in the order of play, always have a long wait but I wish they would start a little earlier. I suppose consideration has been given to those competing late at night. Some are on court the next day.

I was listening to John MacEnroe before the match, he admitted knowing absolutely nothing about her. His words afterwards, I regarded were as very harsh and speculative. At that point nothing was know about why she didn’t return to the match. Tracy Austin would have given a better interview.

Coco Gauff is 17 and it’s not her first time at Wimbledon. How she coped with the pressure, I wonder. Perhaps some of the way of coping with such a tournament at a young age, depends on those around them. From coaches to family. They are the ones now to give Emma what she needs and wants to continue to compete at a high level.

I wish her luck and will watch for her competing again.

gweneth different poster called Bluebellewould

Good interview with Emma on BBC 1 at 16:30 today. She is determined to come back and it looks she has a brilliant team around.

I’d rather not speculate and I’d rather not compare her to other young players.
Everyone is different, I just hope she comes back soon and has a successful career if that’s her choice.
Very talented girl.

Sorry - wrong channel

Good interview with Emma on BBC 1 BBC2 at 16:30 today.