Well played Miss Raducanu

Matthew Syed in The Times usually has a good handle on this sort of thing. He gives some more detail and hopes it is a wake up call. It would be a terrible shame to let it all slip away.

But one hopes — for her sake as well as that of British tennis — that this week operates as a wake-up call; perhaps even a spontaneous influence event. For this was the week she lost an opening set 6-0 having delayed her arrival at a tournament in Qatar to stay in Dubai, where she attended a celebrity function at a five-star hotel. Having never played at this tournament, Raducanu admitted that she had “no idea” about the speed of the surface and said, curiously, that she had struggled to see the ball in the daylight.
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The great challenge of professional tennis at the highest level, though, is that it never stops. Two strong weeks are encouraging but this is a sport that values sustained excellence. This week, Raducanu heads to the Madrid Open hoping that she can continue the momentum she has started to build at one of the biggest non-slam tournaments in the world.

Having risen 82 ranking spots to her current position of 221, Raducanu will continue to look to build her form...

...says Tumaini Carayol in the Guardian but i wonder if her future earnings will be better off-court as her company posted profits of nearly £10million, according to a recent filing on companies house. Raducanu is the sole director of Harbour 6 Limited, a company that was incorporated in 2020. According to the latest documents, with its tax year ending on February 28, Harbour 6 Limited had profit of £9.6m.

Despite being over 200 places behind the top ten in world tennis Raducanu was ranked sixth among tennis players with the greatest earnings. Now, i don't begrudge her talent for making money in sport but where's her incentive to actually win anything? All she has to do is turn up, smile for the camera and make sure her gravy train stays on the rails.
 
JohnD said:
Ludicrous.
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Some people would say that about you when you brag of earning 40% on your investments. Getting money for doing absolutely nothing other than having money - ludicrous. What would you say to those people?

Whoops, I did it again. Asked a question when I’m on your ‘question ignore' list. I won't learn, will I? Doh! And again!
 
JohnD said:
Ludicrous.
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Yeah, maybe so; although her plunge down the rankings suggests she won't have to bust a gut in her racket to make any money this year - so she's doing this for the glory? It's almost fifty years since a woman won Wombledon and nobody's come close since Virginia W. lifted the silver salver.
Wanna bet Ms Raducanu will go far in the tournament this year?
 
Odds said:
Wanna bet Ms Raducanu will go far in the tournament this year?
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Funnily enough, if she avoids injury, I actually think she might have a chance.

When I posted above, in February, I was pretty dubious about her chances. She hadn't bothered turning up to test out the courts at that tournament, and was blaming ridiculous things like not being used to playing in natural daylight. My feeling, on seeing her talk about it, was that she was completely out of sorts. But I saw a more recent interview where she acknowledges she had lost some motivation on court, and that she is feeling much better now.

The reports from her recent games are that she is playing beautifully. At her best, she plays an almost unique brand of high risk, high reward tennis, where she hits the ball very early with great pace. I think grass courts will suit her. She looks physically a lot stronger than when she won the US Open. If she can hold everything together, then I am feeling pretty upbeat about her repeating the US Open shock.
 
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JonathanM said:
Funnily enough, if she avoids injury, I actually think she might have a chance.

When I posted above, in February, I was pretty dubious about her chances. She hadn't bothered turning up to test out the courts at that tournament, and was blaming ridiculous things like not being used to playing in natural daylight. My feeling, on seeing her talk about it, was that she was completely out of sorts. But I saw a more recent interview where she acknowledges she had lost some motivation on court, and that she is feeling much better now.

The reports from her recent games are that she is playing beautifully. At her best, she plays an almost unique brand of high risk, high reward tennis, where she hits the ball very early with great pace. I think grass courts will suit her. She looks physically a lot stronger than when she won the US Open. If she can hold everything together, then I am feeling pretty upbeat about her repeating the US Open shock.
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A pund to a pinch o' snuff says she's out in the first week.:D

What happened to women's tennis?
Men's tennis had been in the tank since Roger Taylor in '73 til Murray came along but the Ladies game had been so strong up to the mid-eighties when it fell off a cliff. Annabelle Croft had a moment but decided to chase the dollar rather than a dream and then nothing til ER showed up and won the US out of nowhere. Why the UK can't scare up a world class talent in every generation baffles me.
 
Some countries have good sports facilities for children and young people.

I'm told that once upon a time it was quite common for schools to have access to playing fields, and some councils used to provide public facilities and even tennis courts.

I can't quite imagine what it could be like to live in a country like that.
 
British coaches are now having to be careful that the strict regime which previously produced champions, is now considered as bullying. :(
 
She went out in the first round of the Madrid open today. Don’t suppose she’s bovvered.
 
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