Emma Raducanu very directly communicated what would be her main goal for this period of the year, and her last three defeats definitely aren't helping her with what she is trying to achieve.
After hiring Rafael Nadal's ex-coach Francisco Roig and falling just short of upsetting Aryna Sabalenka in a three-hour Cincinnati marathon, the 22-year-old Briton revealed at the US Open that her top priority was challenging the best players and clinching a win in at least one such match.
Since then, Raducanu has had shots at three notable names and hasn't managed to win a single time. At the US Open, the British tennis player saw her run end in the third round with a brutal 1-6 2-6 loss to world No. 10 Elena Rybakina. In Seoul two weeks ago, the 22-year-old put herself in a great position to beat 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, but blew three match points as the Czech claimed a 4-6 7-6 (10) 6-1 win.
At the ongoing WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, Raducanu had a first-round bye and made light work of Cristina Bucsa. Playing against world No. 7 Jessica Pegula in the third round, the Briton came inches away from recording her fourth top-10 win. But that didn't happen after she blew a set and a break lead – and three match points in the second-set tie-break – before Pegula came back to win 3-6 7-6 (9) 6-0.
Raducanu's statement at the US Open: I need to play against these top girls and a win would give me a lot of confidence
"Playing these top opponents, you get a feel for it every time. It’s difficult. Right now I’m just working on developing and building my game… I need to play these top girls and I think a win against one of them gives you a lot of confidence in general, but I know I just need to keep doing the right things day to day and the results I can’t really control. But I think I’m just working towards getting closer and closer to the top ones," Raducanu explained in New York.
The positive thing is that Raducanu is evidently becoming more competitive against the top players, but the negative thing remains her inability to close out such rivals.
