Emma Raducanu

[Straightbat]

Wasn't the reason she wasn't competing previously due to finishing her A-levels? The possibility has certainly been there to compete over the past year - since last year's US Open, Leylah Fernandez has played 17 ranking tournaments (plus the Olympics).

True. Apparently graduates earn more than non-graduates and you need A levels to get to university. But $2.5 million isn’t too bad for gap year earnings before joining the treadmill for greater financial prosperity in future .

(Mind you no sooner was she given the winner’s cheque than she handed it straight back to an official afterwards!)

 

[GillsBluenose]

Just brilliant, brilliant, brilliant...

I know that some people might have thought that if she had lost overnight there would be plenty more chances due to her age, but that is often not the way,

None of the other players would have been at their best, either, due to Covid disruptions and the women's game does seem a bit unpredictable these days. In all the majors, lots of seeds seem to go out a lot earlier than the men's game in so called "shocks". It seems to be the norm recently and current slam winners Osaka and Barty bit the dust pretty early in the US open.

Then of couse, there is injury that has blighted the young careers of Laura Robson and Jo Konta.

But Emma has done it unbelievably early, and nobody can take it away from her. Such a nice humble girl as well. Congratulations.

 

[ThreeSixes]

So perhaps there is some other plausible explanation of her being the first woman ever (or man?) to have gone all the way from qualifying in a Grand Slam tournament, in addition to her exceptional talent…

She played really well, but there is an element of "right place, right time". The players she beat were, Vogele, Zhang, Sorribes Tormo, Rogers, Bencic, Sakkari and Fernandez. Had you ever heard of any of them? Belinda Bencic won the Olympics but Raducanu was bookies favourite in most of her games, and only slight outsider in the others.

There's a big opportunity ahead, but the harder part is probably doing it again. But Serena Williams is late 30's, Naomi Osaka seems gone in the head, Halep hasn't pushed on, and Ashleigh Barty (world number 1!), Sabalenka and Pliskova are no great shakes. There is Coco Grauf and Leyla Fernandez too, but there is an opportunity for someone to become a dominant force in women's tennis, like the big 3 men

 

[shotshy]

Just had a read through the BBC coverage and somehow 700 people posted a thumbs down when it came up that she had won.
What is wrong with people?

Perhaps it was 700 Canadians following over here. :-)

I’m not actually surprised 58.
I read the Guardian daily and some of the below the line comments are terrible on any given subject.
If it’s political, 40 or 50% will be deleted by admin because of abuse.
There are a lot of people on both sides of the political divide who love nothing more than sowing division.

 

[ThreeSixes]

I’m not actually surprised 58.
I read the Guardian daily and some of the below the line comments are terrible on any given subject.
If it’s political, 40 or 50% will be deleted by admin because of abuse.
There are a lot of people on both sides of the political divide who love nothing more than sowing division.

There were 700 and 27,700 on that post. You know what he is like, always moaning about the 2%

 

[mehmets_curlies]

I thought she was superb. To play like that in her first major final, with the crowd nearly 100% behind your opponent, was incredible. A massive well done to her

 

[PhilK66]

But while she was winning the US Open her mother back in the UK was collecting, on Emma's behalf, a far more important trophy: Kent Tennis Player of the Year.

Scally should invite her to the next home match to parade her trophies - would double the size of the gate!

 

[madrid_gill]

She played really well, but there is an element of "right place, right time". The players she beat were, Vogele, Zhang, Sorribes Tormo, Rogers, Bencic, Sakkari and Fernandez. Had you ever heard of any of them? Belinda Bencic won the Olympics but Raducanu was bookies favourite in most of her games, and only slight outsider in the others.

I know what you're saying, and it's true her route to the final was a lot easier than Fernandez (who had to take out the 2nd, 3rd and 5th seeds). Raducanu also got a stroke of luck in that she was due to play the 13th seed (Brady) in the 1st round, but Brady withdrew before the tournament started, so Raducanu got to play Vogele as a lucky loser.

But Zhang beat Raducanu in straight sets just last month, Sorribes was one of the form players on the WTA tour this year, Rogers had beaten the world no. 1 in the previous round, and Bencic is the Olympic champion. Coming through 10 matches without dropping a set is impressive, regardless of the opposition. Even if it were a player ranked top 10, it'd be impressive. For a player ranked 150th playing in only her 4th top level tournament, it's astonishing.

Also worth looking at her recent results - in the past few months she lost to Harriet Dart (no. 151) in Nottingham, Parrizas Dias (no. 111) in an ITF event in Pennsylvania, and Tauson (no. 101) in the final of Chicago the week before the US Open. Nothing unexpected for a promising youngster, but nothing at all to suggest what was to come this past fortnight.

I think the most impressive thing isn't just the fact that she won the matches, it's the way she won them. She didn't just beat the players in front of her, she absolutely took them apart. The closest anyone got to taking a set off her was 7-5 in one of the qualifying rounds. The Spanish commentator on Eurosport (I think it was Alex Corretja) was saying in her SF that it'll be interesting to see how she reacts when she's struggling, if she loses a set for example, because so far it just hadn't happened. She sometimes took a couple of games to adjust at the start of a match, but once she got going she dominated every match.

 

[ThreeSixes]

But Zhang beat Raducanu in straight sets just last month, Sorribes was one of the form players on the WTA tour this year, Rogers had beaten the world no. 1 in the previous round, and Bencic is the Olympic champion. Coming through 10 matches without dropping a set is impressive, regardless of the opposition. Even if it were a player ranked top 10, it'd be impressive. For a player ranked 150th playing in only her 4th top level tournament, it's astonishing.

Also worth looking at her recent results - in the past few months she lost to Harriet Dart (no. 151) in Nottingham, Parrizas Dias (no. 111) in an ITF event in Pennsylvania, and Tauson (no. 101) in the final of Chicago the week before the US Open. Nothing unexpected for a promising youngster, but nothing at all to suggest what was to come this past fortnight.

I think the most impressive thing isn't just the fact that she won the matches, it's the way she won them. She didn't just beat the players in front of her, she absolutely took them apart. .

Yes, but Bencic was the shortest in the outright betting at 22/1 () . I'm not trying to be "that guy", just trying to put it in a little more perspective than the "best thing ever" comments. There are 5 or 6 women's that have won a major in the last 5 years, who people in the street will never have heard of. Winning 2 or 3 times is going to be difficult, and people probably need to "pump the brakes" a bit. Raducanu isn't the best female tennis player in the world, she is 12/1 ish for the upcoming majors, and that includes a discount for being British.

And I'm not sure she "destroyed" the competition. I can see the sets and games totals, but I wonder what the individual points totals were?. I watched the Shelby Rogers game, and she (Rogers) wasn't hitting the ball back into the court in the second set.

Very exciting times though. It's good to have someone that actually wins, rather than pluckily loses!

 

[markinkent]

Scally should invite her to the next home match to parade her trophies - would double the size of the gate!

That is a seriously good suggestion. Email the club Phil.

we'd have to advertise that she was coming so people actually knew in advance (to encourage them to buy a ticket) but what harm could it do. She's got a few quid (dollars) as well :-)


I'm not a tennis fan but well done to her. A British grand slam winner is something to celebrate. Also another thing to add the list of positive contributions migrants have made to Britain :-)

 

[LancsGordoRoad]

Well done to Emma, besides being a superb tennis player she seems to be a grounded and very pleasant person. Hopefully, Emma will provide inspiration to other young people.

 

[valenciagill]

That is a seriously good suggestion. Email the club Phil.

we'd have to advertise that she was coming so people actually knew in advance (to encourage them to buy a ticket) but what harm could it do. She's got a few quid (dollars) as well :-)

Does she know any Whitney songs ?

 

[madrid_gill]

Yes, but Bencic was the shortest in the outright betting at 22/1 () . I'm not trying to be "that guy", just trying to put it in a little more perspective than the "best thing ever" comments. There are 5 or 6 women's that have won a major in the last 5 years, who people in the street will never have heard of. Winning 2 or 3 times is going to be difficult, and people probably need to "pump the brakes" a bit. Raducanu isn't the best female tennis player in the world, she is 12/1 ish for the upcoming majors, and that includes a discount for being British.

And I'm not sure she "destroyed" the competition. I can see the sets and games totals, but I wonder what the individual points totals were?. I watched the Shelby Rogers game, and she (Rogers) wasn't hitting the ball back into the court in the second set.

Very exciting times though. It's good to have someone that actually wins, rather than pluckily loses!

I think in terms of future potential, we're in agreement. You're right that the women's game lately is very inconsistent, a number of different GS winners, and even the ones who've managed to win a few titles (the likes of Oskaka, Halep, Barty) are still capable of losing to lesser known players in the early rounds. I'm certainly not in any way claiming on the back of this one tournament that Raducanu's the best player in the world, or going to dominate women's tennis for years to come (although it would be great if she does). She's no longer an unknown quantity in the women's draw, and the top players will be working out ways to take her on, will be interesting to see how she adapts.

Where we do (maybe?) disagree is in just how big an achievement winning the US Open the way she did was. It's not like she was already a top 20 player in all but name, just slumming it around at 150 in the rankings while waiting for her chance to pounce on everyone via the qualifiers. She was a promising player, but one who'd lost in the past few months to 3 players outside the top 100 (perfectly normal for the stage of her career she was at). For any player to go through a GS without dropping a set is impressive. To do it from a ranking of 150, with 9 of the 10 players she beat being ranked above her (I believe only her opponent in the 2nd round of qualifying was ranked lower than her), and 5 of them being ranked more than 100 places above her is just incredible. She only lost 50 games in 10 matches (34 in 7 in the main draw). It'd be something like the Gills winning the FA Cup without conceding a goal, having knocked out a few Championship teams, and a few mid-table Premier League teams, before beating Brentford in the final (with Brentford having taken out Man City, Man Utd and Spurs in the previous rounds).

I just looked up the individual points totals (Raducanu first each time):

vs Voegele 63-46
vs Zhang 78-55
vs Sorribo 60-38
vs Rogers 65-42
vs Bencic 61-53
vs Sakkari 68-48
vs Fernandez 81-68

Only the Bencic (and arguably Fernandez) match is even close.

 

[SE1_Gills]

She did incredibly well, I hope this is the first of many trophies and that she has a long career.

What a great example she can be to the yoof of today.

 

[madrid_gill]

Djokovic cracking under the pressure of trying to achieve the calendar Grand Slam? Medvedev is an absolute beast, but Djokovic is making so many mistakes that normally you just wouldn't expect to see from him.

 

[Gills 58]

Well done Medvdev. Really pleased.

Djokovic boring as hell percentage player. Can't hold a candle to Laver or Federer imo.

What a wonderful weekend of tennis.

Djokovoc also a bellend re Covid/vaxx from what I hear. Happy to be proved wrong on this point.

 

[madrid_gill]

Pleased for Medvedev that he managed to serve it out just when it looked like the bellends in the crowd booing him as he was serving were starting to get to him.

 

[Buddha]

Don't really follow tennis but saw Emma Raducanu on the news being interviewed. I was immediately struck by how stunningly beautiful she is, but more important than that, she came across as a really modest and humble young woman too. Clearly her victory is an amazing achievement, and I'm really pleased for her.

 

[shotshy]

Don't really follow tennis but saw Emma Raducanu on the news being interviewed. I was immediately struck by how stunningly beautiful she is, but more important than that, she came across as a really modest and humble young woman too. Clearly her victory is an amazing achievement, and I'm really pleased for her.

Speaks fluent Mandarin as well.

 

[markinkent]

Links to Kent. Won't know what to do with her millions, loves sport. Get on the phone scally :-)