Perhaps nobody could understand Emma Raducanu’s experience like her fellow former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, and the latter would be very happy to sit down and talk to her about it.
The Canadian knocked Raducanu out of the Miami Open last week, and it has sparked a run to the fourth round in which she has started resembling the player who shocked Serena Williams in the 2019 Flushing Meadows final.
It was part of a sudden surge to fame that season as a teenager, similar to that of Raducanu two years later. As known, they share other things in common, such as a degree of Romanian heritage and being born just outside Toronto.
Both have found rediscovering that New York magic elusive, and whole experience is something that the newly open Andreescu – due to play in Miami last sixteen late on Monday night – would like to compare notes on.
‘I would love to talk to her about just like what happened after US Open,’ said the 22 year-old Canadian. ‘All the success, all the media stuff like that, how she dealt with it, how I dealt with it, how we can maybe help each other in that way.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu (right) and Canada’s Bianca Andreescu share a lot in common – they both won the US Open as teenagers but have struggled to recapture such highs
Andreescu defeated Raducanu in the first round of the Miami Open last week
‘Also, I know that we both haven’t been having, I guess, the results we wanted. I don’t want to speak on behalf of her but I’m sure she wants to do better than she is. And maybe we could just kind of help each other out in that sense.’
Andreescu had a serious knee injury following 2019 and, amid the pandemic, found herself wanting to quit altogether. She has found solace in Yoga, meditation and reading and spoken about these have helped her mental health.
It is a topic that has arisen again in tennis over the past few days with 29 year-old former world No 10 Lucas Pouille from France telling L’Equipe how a form slump saw him descend into a spiral of depression from which he is only just emerging.
Andreescu acknowledges that her journey has been even more complex than that of Raducanu in a period that has seen neither win a title since the US Open. She preaches patience.
‘I played a few tournaments after that but then I got injured,’ says Andreescu. ‘ I didn’t play anything for a really long time. I mean, Covid hit and I was just not in a good place. Not playing a lot of tennis, because of the lockdowns and stuff like that. It’s just really complicated.
‘To think that it was nearly four years ago is just absolutely crazy. I feel like I had a lot of time to really settle down and just kind of figure out what’s best for me. I know, it wasn’t going to come overnight. Four years later, I hope that I can get another grand slam as soon as I can.
‘It was honestly me wanting to figure out if I really want to continue playing tennis because I was literally about to just drop my rackets and just say ‘Screw this’, because I wasn’t happy at all and I wasn’t happy basically for the full year of 2021. I thought that if I continue like this, it’s just going to get worse.
‘So I was like, ‘Okay, let’s take a break’. Hopefully that helps. And it really did. My heart did grow fonder for the sport, and now I appreciate it in a much different way than I did before.
Andreescu (left) shocked Serena Williams to win the 2019 US Open, before Raducanu (right) also won the Slam as a teenager two years later
Raducanu waves goodbye to the Miami Open following a disappointing first round exit
‘Everything physical comes from the mental side of everything – emotional spiritual, so I feel like it’s mainly in my head. I think that’s been the toughest part because I know if everything’s good in my head, everything will be good physically. I’m really enjoying myself. I think that’s the most important thing.’
While Andreescu – whose parents are both originally from Romania, like Raducanu’s father Ian – would happily chat with the British player she has also reached out to younger members of the locker room, based on her own experience of becoming a sudden interloper when her star rose in 2019.
‘There were many people that were welcoming of me and some that weren’t so welcoming,’ she says.
‘I have spoken to some younger athletes that have been in the locker room and some of them have said that they’ve looked up to me so I do not want to like turn my head against these people, because I remember being in their spot.
‘I just want them to feel welcomed and if they need to talk to me I’m very happy to help.’