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

I felt sorry she had to withdraw, but she is very young and has a great future ahead of her. I think at such a young age the pressure and intrusion is difficult to cope with. I wish her well.

Do “we” have to learn anything from this?

No Maw we don’t, the only person who may do is the tennis player herself. Well done to her for getting this far anyway.I think she has a good future in front of her.

She seems a lovely young person. Listening to her account she enjoyed her Wimbledon experience even though it didn’t end as she wanted. I thought she coped well with the interview today. Footballer Marcus Rashford tweeted his support saying he had a similar experience which hasn’t happened again.

Sounds as if she had a panic attack. Not surprising, given all the sudden hype and publicity she has had.

Delighted to read that Marcus Rashford, Andy Murray and (Judy) have come out in support of her. Piers Morgan of course had to say she couldn’t handle the pressure. Judy Murray commented that middle aged men should refrain from “commenting on the physical and mental well-being of teenage girls as they will never experience or fully understand that world “.

I’d say it’s none of your business. You wouldn’t feel the need to explain to her why you did something.

Polarbear2 how do you know that? Having been prone to panic attacks myself at one period of my life, once someone explained to me what was happening, I was quite happy to explain the problem to other people.

Oddly enough, Piers Morgan was right, at that point in that match, she couldn't handle the pressure, but it doesn't mean she will not adjust to her new high profile, nor that she will ever have the problem again. I mean she is only 18 and also doing her A levels

I refuse to believe that anyone suddenly thrust into the lime light as she has been has not had some crisis of confidence or fear at some point, most manage it in the privacy of the dressing room, hotel room or their home. It is just unfortunate that for her, it happened on court.

MOnica to her parents and manager yes. Not to the whole world. Can you imagine if you’d had something like that and can see everyone in the media and general public talking about it and giving out their opinion? It’s intrusive and unpleasant.

Judy Murray commented that middle aged men should refrain from “commenting on the physical and mental well-being of teenage girls as they will never experience or fully understand that world

Well said, Judy Murray. No wonder Andy and Jamie are feminists!

She is only young and even seasoned players would probably struggle dealing with all of the media interest that is thrown at them these days.
IMO every sportsperson, whether male or female, as they are going up through the ranks, should have training on a) what they should possibly expect from media, social or otherwise
and b) what to do if it all goes wrong (a lot that have been signed up by the big name football academies are suddenly dropped, sometimes with little explanation or notice and left to cope with little or no support).
No doubt, all of the interest seems to be fun in the beginning but sadly with all of the trolling and the subsequent intrusion into private life it can often become anything but fun.
I hope that with plenty of support, she will continue to play to such a high standard and we see her playing in the future.

Marcus Rashford sent a lovely message to her saying a similar thing happened to him at his first important match, he was very young, 16 I think, and he said it never happened again which is exactly the reassurance and encouragement she needs if there is a psychological element to what happened. He and Emma are great role models for young people unlike McEnroe who was a brat.

Good for Judy

Young people, let alone young sportspeople, are put under so much pressure. She seems like a lovely girl and hopefully she will be given the tools to deal with all this in future.

Well I'm in the anxiety/panic camp! It's an awful lot to contend with and Emma is exceptionally good, but yes she's very youngandit sounds as if she's not really done the intensive circuits route so centr court Wimbledon is an enormous event for her. She's young great personality and supportive loving family.as Arnie said (ISH) "she'll be back" !

Glad that Judy Murray put John MacEnroe in his place! Whether he was right or wrong is not the point - the fact is that he immediately jumped to an emotional/psychological reason for Emma's withdrawal. Has he ever done this with a male player? Very much doubt it.

Well if she was waiting all day not knowing when she would be performing, she'd have had to stay at her peak all day - right amount of hydration and food intake so she wouldn't be either dehydrated or overloaded when she walked onto the court. Very tricky to get just right. Too much on board and you're going to get stomach cramps, too little and you;re gonna collapse. I don't think any match should begin after 4pm, so at least if you're not on the court by that time you can eat and drink normally so you're in good health the next day.

Instead of the matches lasting until a certain number of rounds why don't they have set times like soccer matches then just see who is ahead when the time is whistled?

We can't learn anything. Only she can learn. I watched her interview the next day. She just needs time...she will be fine

Agree completely with bluebellewould- perhaps the easing of lockdown has sent the press and media, in general, a bit bonkers and over the top. Leave the poor girl alone and stop the speculation.

Oldbat1

She seems a lovely young person. Listening to her account she enjoyed her Wimbledon experience even though it didn’t end as she wanted. I thought she coped well with the interview today. Footballer Marcus Rashford tweeted his support saying he had a similar experience which hasn’t happened again.

Marcus Rashford is becoming a national treasure

She'll be fine. Happens to lots of people (as the lovely Marcus Rashford has also said). What I don't like is twats like Piers Morgan and J. MacEnroe pontificating that it's because she's not tough enough. Big applause to Judy Murray for saying that middle aged men should not be commenting on the physical or mental state of teenage girls. They know nothing about it.

I wish the powers that be at Wimbledon would pay rather more attention to the younger players who need help rather than the crowds who are their main consideration. It is tough to make a young inexperienced girl to have to wait all day with raw nerves to give her best performance. But, she will learn a lot along the way and be Britain’s No 1 sooner than you think!

the worrying thing for her is that everyone tends to think panic attacks are emotional things. whereas they are triggered by physical things. I have the same condition ...over extertion you try and catch your breath and cant the body sends signal to say you cant breathe therefore you automatically hyperventilate this causes no end of distress in fact you think you are dying and the cycle gears up. It is sometimes called exercise induced asthma...many athletes get it (which is why I didn't think it could be what I had) but if I unthinkingly rush up many flights of stairs an attack might happen. It is horrible. But it is known and there are treatments. So I wish her very well indeed.

My Sister in law, a nurse for about 20 years, experienced an anxiety attack whilst waiting for new tyres to be fitted to her car. It came out of nowhere and she really thought she was dying. One of the hardest things after was the anxiety about having another anxiety attack. She did have one more in the local Woolworths but none since. This happened about 20+ years ago.

I don’t know much about sports but did see the interview she gave. She came across as level headed and personable and will no doubt find her own coping strategies.

Marcus Rashford is an utter sweetheart.

muffinthemoo

Marcus Rashford is an utter sweetheart.

Absolutely he is, a 100% good egg.