Emma Raducanu's Return

Happy Wednesday! The countdown to the holidays has well and truly started, and as we get deeper into December, the number of women’s sports events taking place across the world is decreasing.

As a result, it’s a great time to reflect on the year just gone, as well as look forward to the next 12 months. I will likely do this in my last newsletter before I take some time off work to gorge on an obscene amount of Terry’s Chocolate Orange, but for now I wanted to zoom in on one thing I’m particularly looking forward to in early 2024. 

This is the return of Emma Raducanu, who rocketed to fame after winning the 2021 US Open. Just 18-years-old at the time, she became the first ever qualifier, male or female, to win a Grand Slam. 

I was actually in Lisbon with friends when Raducanu played against Leylah Fernandez in the US Open final. I had been tracking her progress in the tournament, and it was becoming increasingly clear that my annual leave had come at a bit of an unfortunate time. But it was fine – we watched the final on a phone at a wine bar, which was a pretty nice place to witness history being made. 

When I got back to England and returned to work, Raducanu-mania had taken over. Every article we wrote about her flew. She had become a household name, and just a couple of months later, received the 2021 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. 

It must have been such a whirlwind experience for Raducanu, going from obscurity to the height of fame in just a few months. I have no doubt the resulting pressure was part of the reason she struggled to recreate her form from the US Open in the 20 months or so after. She was just a young athlete finding her feet on the WTA Tour, but the expectation was that she would continue to win at the highest level. 

Athletes thrive under pressure, of course, and I would expect this to be the same for Raducanu. But the intensity of the pressure was different. Her future as a top-level tennis player was questioned after every single loss, and it must have felt like it was impossible to develop as a young athlete under such scrutiny.

The last time we saw Raducanu on the WTA Tour, she was giving unusually-tense answers during a press conference at the Madrid Open in April. She seemed strained and unhappy. Just hours later, she withdrew from the tournament due to injury, and later underwent three separate surgeries on her wrists and ankle. 

Raducanu is now coming out of the other end of an eight-month recovery period, and is set to play at the Australian Open in January. Her world ranking has been protected during her time out, but as the world number 103, she will likely have to go through qualifying to reach the tournament’s main draw –unless she receives a wildcard. 

Now. I would like to make it clear that I would absolutely never wish an injury upon an athlete. It must be an incredibly frustrating and difficult time. But I do wonder whether there is a silver lining to Raducanu’s time away from tennis.

This is certainly the case from a physical standpoint. Raducanu had long-term issues with her wrists and ankle, and it was clear they were curbing her potential at the top level of tennis. Her fitness issues have been identified and addressed, and hopefully this helps her perform better. 

But I also think there may have been a mental benefit too. Over the past couple of months, I’ve noticed that Raducanu has been showing off more of her personality on social media. Her posts have seemed more open, genuine and carefree.

She now actually seems like a young woman having fun while she plays the sport she loves. I can’t help but feel that time away from the spotlight must have done her the world of good.

Raducanu now returns to tennis with no real expectation behind her. The extreme pressure that built up after the US Open has dissipated. It is almost as if Raducanu’s injuries provided her with the perfect time to reset and start again. 

I’m aware it might seem hypocritical to laud the lack of scrutiny surrounding Raducanu as she returns to tennis, all while writing an entire newsletter about it.

But I genuinely am making no assumptions about her form when she comes back – I’m merely excited to see how such a naturally talented player can flourish when given the time and the space to do so. I hope she will be able to look back on her time recovering from injury and view it as a blessing in disguise.

Winning Women

Celebrating the impressive achievements of female athletes across the world

• The boxing legend that is Katie Taylor defeated Chantelle Cameron by majority decision to become the undisputed world super-lightweight champion. The Irish star, who was already the world lightweight champion, got the perfect revenge for her only professional loss against Cameron six months ago.
  
  

• Some real greats in the Winning Women section this week! Mikaela Shiffrin won a record-extending 90th Alpine Ski World Cup gold medal in Killington last week. Shiffrin had surpassed Ingemar Stenmark's record of 86 career World Cup wins in April, and it looks like she’s just going to keep going.
  
  

• England held off South Africa in the first netball game of a three-match series. The Red Roses triumphed 54-51, taking an advantage into the second and third matches in Nottingham over the weekend. 

Bits and bobs

Women’s sport news and content that you may have missed

• Some big developments in the world of women’s football recently! The Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship have unanimously agreed to proceed with the formation of NewCo, a new organisation which will run women’s football in England. In Europe, the structure of the Women’s Champions League will change from the 2025/26 season, with a second tournament also set to be introduced.

• Elsewhere in football, Christine Sinclair called time on her brilliant international career, making her final appearance during Canada’s 1-0 victory against Australia. Sinclair is the highest international goalscorer ever with a tally of 190, and is one of the all-time greats of women’s football. The 40-year-old has promised one more season of club football, which she will see out with NWSL side Portland Thorns. 

• According to a report from Deloitte, women’s sport revenue is set to reach £1.02bn in 2024. This is nearly double their predicted revenue from women’s sport in 2022. Football is predicted to be the most valuable sport in 2024 with a predicted revenue of £439m, while basketball is second with a forecast of £280m. Read the full report here.

• The next episode of Sky Sports Editions is out, and netball star Helen Housby is front and centre this time. It’s a great watch. 

• It’s the time of year where all you want to do is curl up on the sofa and watch TV, so here are a couple more viewing recommendations. A new documentary on Scottish long-distance runner Eilish McColgan and her ambition to surpass the achievements of her mother Liz McColgan can be watched here. The countdown is also on for Netflix’s docuseries on the USWNT and their journey at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. I will be seated. 

• I want to give props to Amanda Serrano, who has vacated her WBC featherweight title after the organisation refused to sanction 12 three-minute round contests for women’s fights. Serrano believes female boxers are being “underpromoted and undercompensated” due to their inability to fight three-minute rounds. This BBC article from October provides a really good explanation of the situation.

That’s all for today’s newsletter. If you enjoyed it, please share with your networks and anyone else you think may be interested. Thank you!