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

Also I believe the roof was on during that match which means that the ball would have behaved in a different way to anything she’d experienced before. It could have, perhaps, affected her in that things that she did physically didn’t work in the same way as they would normally do: ie it disorientated her. I know some players hate it when the roof goes on part way through a match.

On reflection what I think is worrying is that perhaps if she had been male after her recovery she'd have been urged to get back on court. Being female she was perhaps prey to sexist expectations when they advised her to retire.

She’s a great player but she’s been under the scrutiny of the press - she’s so young and it must have put her under some pressure. Coupled with nerves at playing on court 1 and the wait all day to get on the court, it’s obviously had an effect.

Emma Macaranu is young granted. Wasn't Boris Becker only 17 when he won Wimbledon? UK's latest hopeful (born in Canada apparently) was perhaps not given enough coaching on what the pressures of entering such a massive competition are. May have the technical but not the psychological skills - yet! Do wish her well for her future in the tennis world.

Young and inexperienced and the whole occasion overwhelmed her. Also the waiting to get on court couldn’t have helped her. Lovely smile and plenty of talent and she will come back more ready for the big occasion.

Well, she should be in good hands. Her coach is Andy Murray's father in law and so she is surrounded by experience to help her out.

Polarbear I have said nothing about the player, only about what happened to her. She is an intelligent woman and will been well aware of how much hype surrounded her and would cntinue to do so. She had a panic attack, to my mind, no big deal, they happen a lot.

I think she will have realised that it was bound to be hyped and will get the help she needs to help her recover and get back to work.

Worse things happen at sea.

Lucca

muffinthemoo

Marcus Rashford is an utter sweetheart.

Absolutely he is, a 100% good egg.

I know this is a massive cliche, but his mum should be really proud of the great lad she raised. We know it wasn't easy for her, but she really did give him strong values and a kind heart.

I think when they sign up, it’s part of the deal that they have to do the press conference afterwards. I should think it’s the last thing they want to do but if that’s the rule then hey ho.

I am sad that there appear to be some media commentators implying that an anxiety attack implies fault on behalf of the sufferer, a "lack of moral fibre", when it is no such thing.

At the French open, Naomi Osaka's refusal to be grilled by the press ten seconds after losing or winning a match was similarly treated by some.

Shameful.

And we'll said, Judy Murray.

She is young and has a big future ahead of her, Judy Murray has gone up in my estimation for defending her, and Piers Morgan needs to wind his neck in, nasty man that he is. McEnroe was a brat, a loud, unpleasant young man who may have softened a bit over the years, but is in no position to give anyone advice about how to handle pressure!

muffinthemoo

Marcus Rashford is an utter sweetheart.

Absolutely he is, a 100% good egg.

Marcus Rashford is an utter sweetheart.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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 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" !

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.

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.