EMMA’S A WRITE-OFF
Shriver dismisses Raducanu hopes
EMMA RADUCANU’S Wimbledon chances were written off yesterday as her agent publicly defended her growing number of sponsorship deals.
The US Open champion has been handed a tricky opener against world No.46 Alison Van Uytvanck.
But the 10th seed’s decision not to practise on Court One yesterday – and the refusal of her camp to explain the move – added to a torrid build-up.
Raducanu has won only eight of the 19 matches she has played this season while suffering injuries in Australia (blistered hand), Mexico (upper leg), Italy (back) and Nottingham (side strain).
Former US Open runner-up Pam Shriver, right, said the injuries, and going to SW19 without a full-time coach, would count against a deep run.
The Bromley teenager reached round four on her debut last year before withdrawing but American Shriver said: “I don’t expect a lot from Raducanu at Wimbledon.
“I don’t know why it’s been so complicated to get a coach to help for this next phase but it clearly has been.
“She’s had a lot of injuries, not enough time on the court, and there’s plenty of pressure back at her home Slam, the place where she didn’t return to the court to finish her match 12 months ago.
“Putting all of that together, I’d be surprised if she made a deep run.”
Shriver, who won five Wimbledon doubles titles with Martina Navratilova, reached the 1978
US Open final as a 16-year-old and she questioned the number of endorsements Raducanu has after the Briton recently became a brand ambassador for HSBC – her ninth big deal.
But her agent Max Eisenbud claimed his company IMG has “left millions of dollars off the table” by restricting the player to a maximum of 18 sponsor days a year.
“We could have done 50 days of shoots,” he said. “I’ve never seen the amount of excitement and companies that wanted to be in business with Emma after the US Open.
“She got a lot of bad luck and what really hurt her was [catching] Covid and not having a great off-season, then she was playing catch-up. I think if she had zero shoot dates, everything would be the same.
“I know from the outside, you guys want to look at all those things, but if she locked herself in a room for the whole year and didn’t do anything, it would be the same.” Raducanu could have an all-British clash in the second round against wild card Yuriko Miyazaki, who faces a tough test against France’s Caroline Garcia. American No.19 Madison Keys is her scheduled third-round opponent. Former British No.1 Jo Konta said: “Emma has shown how she is already dealing with the immense spotlight that has so drastically and literally found her. Her scheduled first round is a tough match, Alison is a very capable player on grass. “But there are no easy matches any more in the first round onwards and [it has been] for years now. “It will be another great opportunity for Emma. “Hopefully she is fit and healthy, and she can put in a good performance.”