Former British number two tells Emma Raducanu’s team what they need to do next as she hits back at critics

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Emma Raducanu made history at the 2021 US Open after coming through qualifying to win the title.

Raducanu has since struggled for form and fitness, including undergone surgeries on both wrists and her left ankle in 2023.

Injuries featured again for the Brit again in the latter stages of last year, with Raducanu missing most of the Asian swing after suffering a foot problem in Seoul.

This led to Raducanu appointing Yutaka Nakamura, a fitness coach that has previously worked with both Naomi Osaka and Maria Sharapova.

Despite hiring Nakamura, Raducanu suffered a back issue at the start of the season and was forced to miss the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland.

Raducanu has also split with Nick Cavaday after over a year together, with their last tournament coming at the Australian Open.

Naomi Broady responds to people calling Emma Raducanu’s US Open win ‘a fluke’

Raducanu was ranked at world number 150 when she won the US Open at just 18-years-old, winning 10 consecutive matches in straight sets.

However, since then she has been able to reach another final, with Raducanu being labelled ‘a fluke’ by some critics.

This is something that former British number two Naomi Broady does not believe is fair, as she claims that those people do not know about tennis, and offered Raducanu some advice.

“People who have that attitude and say Emma got lucky when we won the US Open don’t understand tennis,” Broady told Tennis365. “You hear them say she is a one-Slam wonder and it was a fluke that she won the US Open.

“If you understand tennis, you will know that is not possible. You can’t come through qualifying, win seven matches without dropping a set and win a Grand Slam by luck.

“She has the level and she needs to get back there and it’s incredibly difficult not to look at those articles online and get dragged into the negativity.

“Hopefully the team around her will help with that and that may be why over the last year or two she has made that close circle much smaller. She needs that protection around her.”

Naomi Broady says what she thinks the future holds for Emma Raducanu

Raducanu will be joined by a former coach in Abu Dhabi, as she looks to move on from the Cavaday split for the Middle Eastern swing.

Broady continued to speak about the future of Raducanu’s career, and praised her for hiring the aforementioned Nakamura and drawing comparisons to compatriot Jack Draper.

“It’s hard for us to assess what success is for Emma and I’m sure the same is true for her and her team,” said Broady. “We know she had the level when she is fully fit and the belief that she can compete with the best will come back once she starts winning matches.

“She is putting a lot of hard work off the court and I just love her hire of Yutaka Nakamura. He is such a lovely guy and they will fit incredibly well with their personalities. He is also one of the best in tennis at what he does.

“He will also give her a lot of support on how to manage her body because as we have seen with Jack Draper, he has achieved fantastic results when he has managed to do that.

“I feel it’s a similar story with Emma. She has the talent and she just needs her body to play ball and allow her to win the amount of matches she needs to in order to get back to the top of the rankings. I think it will come, but we just need to give it time.”

Raducanu will begin her tournament in Abu Dhabi with a first round match against 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.