Emma Raducanu has revealed that she has made major changes to her personal life in a bid to rediscover her best form. The British tennis star has been ravaged by injuries and inconsistency since bursting onto the scene as the US Open champion in 2021.
In 2023, Raducanu underwent surgery on both wrists and an ankle to overcome recurring injury problems. She then missed most of the second half of last year and her first action of 2025 was the Australian Open.
To overcome those issues, the 22-year-old has revealed that she spent plenty of time by herself to reflect on her pathway to success. That included solo walks and coffee dates.
“I think it was just about my time. I think last year it was a difficult year for me in terms of missing the second half of the year due to injury. And I think I just had a lot of time to think and reflect in that period,” Raducanu told The National.
“I think I just had to make some really difficult decisions. Some decisions that internally, you kind of toil with, you know emotionally you’re attached to, and I think that I wasn’t necessarily being able to do the best things for myself.
“Like I wouldn’t have loads of time to read like I am now, spend a lot of time alone. And I think that’s just something that I’ve started doing a lot more of.
“I think this year, I’ve gone on loads of solo walks, solo coffee dates and just have a lot of time to kind of look inside and look internally. I’ve been enjoying it so far, even though it’s not necessarily the easiest thing to do, especially when the tour is quite a lonely place.”
Raducanu is in the UAE this week for the Abu Dhabi Open. Having initially accepted a qualifying wildcard to take part, that has been upgraded to the main draw due to withdrawals.
She will play at the tournament without a full-time coach after Nick Cavaday left her team for personal health reasons. Raducanu is in the process of appointing the seventh coach of her career, something she insists she never intended to happen this soon.
Having reached the third round of the Australian Open in January, Raducanu will be keen to improve her form and rise from world No. 56.
