Tamira Paszek has come to Emma Raducanu’s defense as the two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist says the 2021 US Open champion playing qualifying and lower-ranked tournaments wouldn’t be as easy as it seems because she would be “hunted” there and pretty much everyone would be extra motivated and determined to beat her.
Although the Briton was ranked around No. 300 when she returned from multiple surgeries, she didn’t have any issues entering the main-level tournaments earlier this year because she kept receiving main draw wildcards. But then, certain events opted to overlook the former world No. 10 when making wildcard selection.
The first that come to mind are the French Open and the WTA 1000 tournaments in Rome, Montreal and Cincinnati – Raducanu elected not to play qualifying in any of those events. While the current world No. 58 provided certain explanations, some didn’t buy it and remained convinced that she was deliberately skipping qualifying.
Apart from that criticism, some have also been urging the Briton to play in some WTA 125 (Challenger) tournaments and test herself there.
But three-time WTA champion Paszek – who was once a promising star in the game before injuries derailed her career when she was in her early twenties – currently mainly competes on the Challenger and ITF level and she knows well how it feels when a big name comes to play the lower-ranked events.
“It’s easy to say she should play this tournament just to get points or matches, but if she played at a lower level, she would be hunted. I have felt this. I had some success in my career and now I am playing smaller events and it is tough. People see you are a target and that is a tough challenge,” the 33-year-old Austrian told Tennis365.
“So saying she should just play lower-ranking events is not always so easy and I understand how it has been difficult for her. When you have experienced success like that and winning a Grand Slam, it’s always going to be tough. She won the US Open literally out of nowhere and you feel like the support around her after that had to be right.”
Tamira Paszek© Tamira Paszek/Instagram – Fair Use
Paszek suggests Raducanu should stick to her plan
Paszek, who was just 16 when she became a WTA winner in 2006, also reached back-to-back Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2011 and 2012. Also, she achieved a career-high ranking of No. 26 in 2013 February. But then, major problems with injuries started and she basically hasn’t been competing on the main level for the past 10 years.
When things started to get rough for the 33-year-old, she felt “so confused” and not knowing what to do at times. That’s why she is urging Raducanu to try to keep it simple but also for people to be more patient with the 21-year-old.
“There were a lot of changes after that in her coaching team. I get it, I have been through a lot of coaching changes. Sometimes it’s financially related, sometimes it’s personal. People change, situations change. But when you have someone who has helped you to such massive success, money is not an issue at that moment,” Paszek added.
“I feel that if you are able to stick with something you are used to, it grounds you a little bit. If you have lots of new voices, it confuses you a little bit and then the injuries are added in and in the end, your identity of how you play tennis is lost. I had this. The input of so many voices came to me and in the end, I was so confused. Who am I? What kind of player should I be?”
Raducanu directly answered if she was against playing qualifying
After playing in Washington as a wildcard in the first week of the North American hard-court swing, the former world No. 10 didn’t play in Toronto or Cincinnati. She receiving some strong criticism for already explained reasons. But when she arrived at the US Open, she claimed she wasn’t against playing qualifying but it just wasn’t meant to happen in North America.
“I really wanted to play in Toronto, especially because I was born there, but the turnaround was too tight for qualifying. I would have had to play on Sunday and I finished [in Washington] late Friday night, so flying there and adjusting I just felt was too tight. Otherwise, I just always do things a little bit differently,” Raducanu told BBC Sport in late August.
“I think playing qualies is not something that I am against, because if you get through those two rounds you feel you’re adjusted to the court. If you’re playing a seed, you have a better eye for the ball, a better feel – it’s not that I am against it at all.”