Why Emma Raducanu needs to swallow her pride if she ever wants to reach the top again amid nightmarish run

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu's poor string of results continued with yet another first-round exit. She failed to cross the first hurdle at the ongoing BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, suffering a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Moyuka Uchijima. Her record for the season now stands at 3-6, and she has bowed out in the first round on four occasions this year.

While Raducanu has dealt with her share of injuries since her memorable run at the US Open 2021, she hasn't made much of an impact even when she was healthy. Since her victory in Flushing Meadows, she has advanced to the semifinals of a WTA level tournament only twice. Her frequent injury breaks meant that her ranking was never high enough to avoid running into top players right off the bat.

However, there's a way that the Brit could've avoided that, and it's the only option left for her now. She must compete in the WTA 250 tournaments more often, or even drop down to the WTA 125 level in order to string together some wins. Whether she likes it or not, her current level isn't good enough to hang with the top guns of the women's tour week after week.

Competing in lower level tournaments does have its advantages, and a few big names have reaped the benefits of the same in recent times. Elina Svitolina and Belinda Bencic are the prime examples of that. They were among the only ones who dropped down to the WTA 125 level during the initial stages of their comebacks, and it paid off big time for them.

Svitolina returned to the tour in 2023 following the birth of her first child. She lost the first three matches of her comeback, and two of those matches were at the WTA 1000 level. She quickly realized that she needed some momentum before she's able to go toe-to-toe with the top players, and opted to participate in a WTA 125 tournament.

Svitolina advanced to the final of that tournament, and a week later, she won the Strasbourg Open, a WTA 250 tournament. She continued her good run of form with a quarterfinal showing at the French Open, followed by a semifinal at Wimbledon.

Before she returned to the WTA Tour this year from her maternity leave, Bencic tested the waters by participating in three ITF tournaments towards the end of last year. She improved her results with every tournament, and finished as the runner-up in her last tournament of the season.

Those ITF tournaments laid the foundation for Bencic's success this year. She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, and won the Abu Dhabi Open, a WTA 500 tournament. She was unranked when she entered her first ITF tournament in October 2024, and fast forward to now, she's already in the top 60 of the WTA rankings.

Raducanu can follow in their footsteps and gain some valuable experience and match play if she drops down to the ITF level. While some may consider the move to be beneath the stature of her player, it shows commitment to one's craft, and the desire to improve. It is the right choice if she wants to reclaim her place at the top.

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Frequent wildcards have also adversely affected Emma Raducanu's results

Emma Raducanu at the BNP Paribas Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Emma Raducanu's enduring popularity has fetched her plenty of wildcards in almost every tournament that she wanted to enter. However, competing in qualifying rounds is also a good alternative if she doesn't want to slog it out on the ITF circuit. To be fair, she was willing to try out this option in Abu Dhabi this year but the organizers opted to give her a direct spot in the main draw.

An additional two matches could go a long way in building some confidence and momentum. Raducanu won the US Open as a qualifier, so there's no harm in trying to see if history repeats itself. When her ranking doesn't guarantee her a direct entry into a WTA 1000 or a WTA 500 tournament, she could try to qualify instead of relying on a wildcard.

A lot of players make their breakthrough the same way. Emiliana Arango is a recent example of that. She recently won the WTA 125 tournament in Cancun, Mexico, and then advanced to the final of the Merida Open, a WTA 500 tournament, as a qualifier. Winning begets confidence, and one good run is all it takes for a player to realize that they're capable of more.

Ideally, Raducanu should focus on competing in lower tier events. She hasn't reached a final since her victory at the US Open, and that was almost four years ago. Even if she wins a title by crushing players ranked far lower than her, putting together four to five wins in a row would go a long way in testing her match fitness as well as sharpening her killer instinct.

Getting back into the winner's circle will surely give Raducanu's career the boost that she desperately needs, even if the title doesn't come at a high-profile event. A win is a win at the end of the day. She has shown that she's capable of playing at a pretty good level, albeit not on a consistent basis. If she intends to change that, then there are some hard choices to be made in the short term, which would definitely pay off down the line.