“Emma Raducanu is playing a brand of tennis close to what we saw when she won US Open” – Laura Robson defends fellow Brit’s scheduling choices

British former tennis professional Laura Robson recently defended Emma Raducanu's choice of participating in big events on her return to the WTA Tour.

Raducanu returned to on-court action at the ASB Classic 2024 in January after an eight-month-long absence due to multiple injuries. She started her campaign in Auckland steadily with a win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse in a three-setter. She then offered stern resistance to second-seed Elina Svitolina in the second round in an otherwise failed attempt.

A couple of weeks later, the former World No. 10 landed in Melbourne for the Australian Open and met a similar fate. She went past Shelby Rogers comfortably in the first round but couldn't see off Wang Yafan in the second. She faced another second-round exit at the Abu Dhabi Open in February.

Most recently, Raducanu returned from the Qatar Open without a win. The Brit's constant failures have invited claims that she should first try to gain momentum by winning matches in the lower divisions before trying to return on the big stage.

Laura Robson, however, dismissed such claims and said that Raducanu's recent performances reminded her of the latter's efforts during her triumphant 2021 US Open campaign.

"The fact that she [Emma Raducanu] has been playing more aggressively and getting closer to the baseline is great to see. She is playing a brand of tennis close to what we saw when she won the US Open and she just needs time on court and consistency to get her to that level," Robson said. (via Tennis365)

Robson continued:

"It's not really going for the jackpot playing these events. She played very well in some of the matches she had this year and she clearly feels her level is good enough to challenge at these tournaments, so why not go for them?"

Robson was active on tour between 2008 and 2022. During that period, she achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 27 and also won a silver medal alongside Andy Murray in the mixed doubles at the 2012 London Olympics.

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A look into Emma Raducanu's journey from being a qualifier to a champion at the 2021 US Open

Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open.

At the 2021 US Open, Emma Raducanu pulled off one of the greatest feats there is in tennis as she became the first-ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

More surprisingly, the Brit didn't drop a single set on her way to lifting the trophy at Flushing Meadows. She entered the main draw with straightforward wins over Bibiane Schoofs, Mariam Bolkvadze, and Mayar Sherif in the qualifiers.

Raducanu began her main-draw journey with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Stefanie Vogele in the opening round. She further went past Zhang Shuai, Sara Sorribes Tormo, and Shelby Rogers in the second, third, and fourth rounds, respectively.

Raducanu downed 11th-seed Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals and went on to defeat 17th-seed Maria Sakkari in the last four. She capped it off by thumping Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in the final.