Martina Hingis is the latest leading figure in tennis to question Emma Raducanu’s career management and she believes the former US Open champion will find it tough on her return to the sport.
Raducanu has had to sit out this year’s Wimbledon after undergoing operations on both wrists and one ankle and is not expected to be back until the autumn.
It has been a rollercoaster ride for the 20-year-old since her incredible victory in New York nearly two years ago, with intense scrutiny on her on and off-court decisions.
View this post on InstagramThe one that has caused most head-scratching was Raducanu’s decision to part ways with coach Andrew Richardson straight after the US Open, and she has not managed to find a consistent voice since.
Former world number one Hingis won five grand slam singles titles as a teenager, and she said: “If you have the right surroundings, I think that’s also really important.
“I never met her so I don’t know exactly what goes through the head. It’s incredible she was able to win the US Open and, all of the changes after that, I don’t think it was a great choice to do.
“When you win with someone, you usually continue, but I can’t judge what happened. It would be nice for her to find the way and to find her success again.
“She’s got the shots, she’s the whole package, but you still need the results. It’s not like one day you win the US Open and then that’s the rest of the life.”
Raducanu will be ranked well outside the top 100 when she returns and, while she will not be short of wild card offers to get into the big tournaments, Hingis feels she faces an uphill battle.
“There’s so many girls out there that can play well who are hungry,” said the Swiss. “I hope the best for her but it won’t be easy.”
Hingis, champion at Wimbledon in 1997 as a 16-year-old, is back at the All England Club to play in the invitational doubles.
She enjoyed watching the run of Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who reached the fourth round as a qualifier before falling to Madison Keys.
“It’s great to see a 16-year-old doing so well,” said Hingis. “I like her game. It’s nice to watch and also for the people to see someone like this, it’s still possible being young and doing well.
“She’s very disciplined, she’s got all the shots. Sometimes she’s quite far behind (the baseline), I would like to see her being a bit more aggressive, but she doesn’t miss. She’s like a wall.
“It’s hard to get through her but it’s something she can maybe improve in the future to take more charge and attack when she has the chance to do it.”
Andreeva had an unfortunate end to her tournament, receiving a point penalty for throwing her racket that gave Keys match point.
“I did that too,” said Hingis. “You want to win, you want to play well. It can happen.
“When you’re young you have your emotions. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes bad. As long as nothing dangerous happens. Of course you’re supposed to control your emotions but she’s 16, she’s a kid still.”
Medvedev pushed all the way to avoid third-round scare in Italian Open
Daniil Medvedev had to dig deep to overcome Hamad Medjedovic at the Italian Open on Monday and stay in with a chance of retaining his title.
Medvedev came out on top with a 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 7-5 victory, but was made to work hard to avoid a third-round upset.
After enduring an up-and-down opening two sets in which he hit 10 double faults, Medvedev rallied into a lead before holding off Medjedovic’s fight-back.
The second seed remained composed to break in the match’s final game to advance after two hours and 50 minutes.
Medvedev will now play Tommy Paul in the next round on Tuesday, with the American seeing off Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-3.
Data Debrief: Reigning champion fights on
Medvedev has reached the last 16 at all 5 Masters 1000 events this season, with only Alexander Zverev able to match that distinction.
It was not an easy ride for him though, as Medjedovic wanted to prove a point against his first Top 10 opponent in what was his first Masters 1000 third round.
Swiatek passes Kerber test to reach Italian Open quarter-finals
Two-time Italian Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarter-finals of this year's tournament with an impressive 7-5 6-3 win over Angelique Kerber on Monday.
Three-time grand slam winner Kerber provided Swiatek with a real step up after routine victories over Bernarda Pera and Yulia Putintseva in the first two rounds on the clay in Rome.
Kerber responded to Swiatek's first break – which came in the eighth game – with one of her own, but the world number one then recaptured her composure to force a series of break points in Kerber's next two service games, finally converting at the eighth attempt to take the opener.
Kerber refused to go away, breaking straight back in the first game of the second set, but Swiatek upped her game to take the contest away from the 36-year-old.
Swiatek dropped just three further points on her own serve from there, adding three breaks of her own to set up a last-eight meeting with Madison Keys for Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Swiatek unmatched on clay
While Kerber rolled back the years to trouble Swiatek early on, she lacked the staying power to live with the world number one in longer rallies on a surface where she is truly unmatched.
Her win ratio at clay-court events at WTA 1000-level now stands at 88.2 per cent (30 wins, four defeats), the best of any player to have played a minimum of five matches since the format's 2009 introduction, ahead of Serena Williams at 88 per cent.
Osaka sees encouraging Italian Open run halted by Zheng in last 16
Naomi Osaka's promising Italian Open run was halted by Zheng Qinwen on Monday, as the seventh seed denied the four-time grand slam champion a quarter-final place.
Following Saturday's triumph over Daria Kasatkina – her second successive straight-sets win over a top-20 opponent in Rome – Osaka laughed off the "Clayomi" moniker given to her by some fans.
On Monday, her old troubles on the surface came back to the fore as Zheng dominated from the off to make the tournament's last eight for a second straight year, winning 6-2 6-4.
Osaka saw her serve broken in the very first game only to hit straight back, but Zheng assumed control by taking seven straight games to go from 2-1 down in the opener to 2-0 up in the second set.
The 21-year-old produced a clinical performance and converted all four of her break points, winning 78 per cent of first-serve points to Osaka's 68 per cent as she teed up a quarter-final clash with either Coco Gauff or Paula Badosa.
Data Debrief: 'Clayomi' no more as Zheng triumphs
Osaka impressed on a surface long regarded as her worst in Italy, but it was a bridge too far for her on Monday, Zheng reaching her fourth WTA 1000 quarter-final.
Since the format's introduction in 2009, she is just the second Asian player to reach multiple quarter-finals on both hardcourts and clay at that level before the age of 23, the other being Osaka.
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