MELBOURNE, Australia — In 2020, Iga Swiatek received her first Grand Slam title at 19.
The next 12 months, Emma Raducanu received her first Grand Slam title at 18.
The pair of teenage main winners have adopted divergent paths since then. Swiatek has added 4 extra Grand Slam titles to her tally, spending over 100 weeks as world No. 1 within the course of; Raducanu hasn’t reached the ultimate of a single WTA Tour occasion, let aloneanother main.
Their Australian Open third-round match on Saturday is without doubt one of the most consequential of Raducanu’s profession since profitable the U.S. Open in 2021. She has gone deeper in a Grand Slam earlier than, reaching the Wimbledon fourth spherical final 12 months, however she has by no means performed an opponent ranked increased than world No. 7 at a serious.
Raducanu’s profession document in opposition to top-10 gamers is 2-7, with an 0-3 head-to-head in opposition to Swiatek, however she has received her final two matches in opposition to top-10 opponents at Eastbourne and Wimbledon respectively. After a closely disrupted 2024, 2025 brings a right away take a look at in opposition to among the finest gamers on the planet.
Swiatek and Raducanu, now 23 and 22 respectively, took very totally different trajectories en path to their first Grand Slam titles. Swiatek’s breakout event on the 2020 French Open got here on the again of quite a few Grand Slam predominant draw match wins and a junior Wimbledon title, whereas Raducanu received the 2021 U.S. Open as a qualifier, a once-in-history tennis second.
Raducanu laughed Thursday when speaking about breakthroughs within the wake of beating buddy Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-5 to arrange the assembly with the world No. 2.
“I do know that she was enjoying since a really younger age and my hours compared have been in all probability a bit comical once I was 17 or 18, enjoying six hours per week,” she mentioned in a information convention.
“I don’t assume it was the identical trajectory.”
In that junior Wimbledon title run, Swiatek met Raducanu within the quarterfinals. She received 6-0, 6-1.
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The distinction has endured since their respective first main titles, with Swiatek profitable Grand Slams on a number of surfaces (clay and exhausting courts) whereas Raducanu both flattered to deceive within the wake of all of a sudden and infinitely elevated expectations or suffered continuous misfortune with accidents. Her profession has been one among constant rebuilds, whereas Swiatek has received not less than one main in every of the previous three seasons, selecting up 22 singles titles and the 2024 United Cup’s “most dear participant” title after profitable all of her singles matches.
In 2022, when Swiatek received each the French and U.S. Opens, Raducanu was having her first correct season on the WTA Tour — as a Grand Slam champion. Her outcomes have been good when introduced as a rookie participant making an attempt to navigate a full season for the primary time, with one semifinal and a few quarterfinals. They have been much less good by the traditional requirements of a Grand Slam champion. Raducanu ended the 12 months ranked No. 75 after a first-round exit on the U.S. Open noticed her lose 2,030 factors and plummet from No. 11 to No. 83 within the area of two weeks.
It was a 12 months of frequent teaching modifications for Raducanu. Having received the U.S. Open with Andrew Richardson, she changed him with Torben Beltz simply two months after profitable the title. By April 2022, Beltz was out and Dimitry Tursunov, who had labored with Annett Kontaveit whereas she reached No. 2 on the planet, was in.
Tursunov didn’t proceed past a trial interval of some months, telling Tennis Majors that there have been “pink flags” he couldn’t ignore. Sebastian Sachs arrived in December 2022 and lasted till the next June, making it 5 coaches in lower than two years for Raducanu. Richardson had changed Nigel Sears in July 2021, simply two months earlier than her U.S. Open win.
“Something that’s not essentially serving me, I’m simply fairly savage by way of simply prioritizing myself and focusing,” Raducanu mentioned on Thursday in Melbourne. “Something that wishes to attempt to have an effect on that, I don’t have time for it. No hate. I simply don’t need to form of let that in.”
Coaches are requested to place collectively PowerPoint displays to elucidate their considering — she has all the time had an unimaginable focus and demand for excellence. At the same time as a junior, she would hunt down coaches who may assist her with particular pictures. She’s obsessive about the why of issues and received’t simply soar as a result of she’s advised to.
She mentioned on BBC Radio 4’s Right now programme in October 2023: “l ask my coaches a whole lot of questions. On sure events, they haven’t been capable of sustain with the questions I’ve requested and possibly that’s why it ended.”
Beltz was introduced in to enhance her forehand and when that wasn’t taking place, Raducanu noticed little level in carrying on.
Emma Raducanu with Dimitry Tursunov on the 2022 U.S. Open (Julian Finney / Getty Photos)
An enormous second within the subsequent Raducanu rebuild got here on the finish of 2023 when she employed Nick Cavaday as coach. The pair labored collectively when Raducanu was a junior and had mentioned a attainable partnership earlier in her senior profession, with the timing on each side not figuring out. He joined her crew in the direction of the top of a 2023 season that had been dominated by one other recurring theme in her profession: accidents.
She missed the vast majority of the season after double wrist surgical procedure and an ankle operation, which collectively meant she performed simply 5 occasions and ended her season in April. Whereas Raducanu was within the early levels of rehabilitation, Swiatek was scooping up a 3rd French Open, her second in two years, and a fourth Grand Slam title general.
Cavaday remains to be in place 13 months later, an eternity in comparison with how lengthy her earlier coaches have lasted. Raducanu responds to his readability of considering and magnificence of communication, with a give attention to providing proof and information to help what he’s saying. Cavaday’s technical experience additionally permits them to work on particular pictures — particularly the forehand and serve — which has been a key think about Raducanu’s earlier teaching selections.
At this 12 months’s Australian Open, the forehand has been potent, however the latter is a piece in progress. Raducanu will meet her opponent on Saturday with the extra settled crew, as Swiatek eases into life with Wim Fissette. Fissette has coached former world No. 1 gamers Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters and Angelique Kerber, profitable six Grand Slam titles in complete, and appears to be returning Swiatek to the devastating however managed aggression that has seen her dominate the game. Her succession of too-similar defeats underneath former coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, by which she descended right into a tailspin of overhitting groundstrokes within the face of peaking opponents, seems to be a great distance away.
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Swiatek is but to undergo a defeat to Raducanu; Raducanu is but to win a set in opposition to her. They crossed paths in 2024 for the third time after the Brit moved her rating up from No. 285 initially of the season to No. 58 by its shut. She met Swiatek on the WTA 500 Stuttgart quarterfinal, which Swiatek received 7-6(2), 6-3.
Raducanu entered the event as a wildcard as a result of she is a model ambassador for Porsche, who additionally sponsor the occasion. Later within the 12 months, Raducanu posted an image of herself driving her £100,000 Porsche Cayenne after rumours unfold that the corporate had taken again a automotive they’d gifted her when she was noticed taking a public bus in London. In December, Raducanu advised a small group of reporters that she would lower down on sponsorship days.
Final 12 months additionally introduced that run to the Wimbledon fourth spherical, however it was overshadowed by her resolution to withdraw from her blended doubles with the retiring Andy Murray to guard her wrist forward of her fourth-round match.
Raducanu felt she had no alternative. Murray was gutted. His mom, Judy, referred to as it “astonishing” on social media. Raducanu confronted a whole lot of criticism for doing what most gamers would have accomplished in the identical scenario earlier than she mentioned tennis “doesn’t really feel totally different in any respect” when requested about Murray’s absence on the U.S. Open. She added that the best way tennis works implies that even somebody like Murray shifting on is “outdated information the subsequent day.”
Even with out that episode, Raducanu has confronted challenges in connecting with the broader sporting public. In Melbourne, she spoke in regards to the Murray scenario in a much less matter-of-fact manner than beforehand.
“Afterwards, I despatched him an extended message, mainly: ‘If I prompted any hassle I assume at Wimbledon, that’s undoubtedly the very last thing I need,’” she advised a small group of reporters.
“He’s somebody that I’ve grown up wanting as much as and I don’t need any dangerous blood or harsh emotions with him.”
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Raducanu is conscious of the significance of an athlete’s public picture and met with a gaggle of British journalists for an interview and a casual lunch in December by which she defined a few of her objectives for 2025. After hiring health coach Yutaka Nakamura, who has labored with Grand Slam champions and world No. 1s Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka, Raducanu mentioned: “I feel I can grow to be among the finest athletes in tennis. I feel he’s actually going to assist with that.”
At the moment, Raducanu had solely simply returned from a few months out after spraining foot ligaments initially of September. She’d had a difficult interval earlier than that, too, opting in opposition to making an attempt to qualify for the pre-U.S. Open hard-court swing after which arriving on the U.S. Open undercooked.
In her pre-tournament information convention, Raducanu spoke of how good she was feeling, however after shedding to Sofia Kenin, Raducanu cried in her post-match duties. “I really feel down, I really feel unhappy,” she mentioned.
Raducanu arrived in Melbourne underneath comparable circumstances after a again spasm picked up whereas tying her shoelaces meant she arrived on the Australian Open with no match observe.
Each of her victories thus far, in opposition to No. 26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova after which former French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova, have been scrappy however clutch when needed. She has received her final eight tiebreaks, together with two in opposition to Alexandrova. Her tweaked serve has been shaky, however she has relied on her floor sport and labored by bodily points to defend the issues together with her serve. Raducanu acquired therapy on her again when 0-3 down within the second set in opposition to Anisimova, earlier than profitable seven of the subsequent 9 video games to take the match.
Emma Raducanu has been spectacular throughout her first two matches in Melbourne. (Shi Tang / Getty Photos)
Her defensive tennis was excellent in opposition to Anisimova, hustling throughout the baseline to attract errors by forcing another shot out of an more and more erratic opponent.
“I used to be capable of get to some balls that possibly I wouldn’t have been capable of beforehand,” Raducanu mentioned afterwards.
When requested about their divergent paths over the previous few years, Swiatek was philosophical. “Everyone’s story is totally different and all people struggles with totally different stuff,” she mentioned in a information convention on Thursday.
The expectation is that Swiatek can be too robust, however being within the place to tackle the world’s finest gamers looks like an vital step for Raducanu.
“After we’re going to be on the market on the courtroom, whoever goes to play higher will win, and that’s it,” Swiatek mentioned.
(Prime picture: Robert Prange / Getty Photos)
