Emma Raducanu insisted she is looking after her tennis future – and not being a diva – after turning down the chance to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.
Raducanu was offered an 11th-hour invitation to the Olympic tennis event, which will be held at Roland Garros in south-western Paris, but decided that changing surfaces from grass to clay and then to hard courts later in the season would put too much strain on her body.
“I’m very single-minded and I do things my own way and at my own time – not in a diva way – but just prioritising my body and my health because if I’m fit, if I’m giving 100 per cent, I know great things are coming,” said Raducanu, who had double wrist surgery last year.
“I just don’t think there’s any need to put additional stress on my body or any risk, especially with my history. It [clay] is more demanding on the body, for sure. It’s more physical, longer points, but I think it’s more just the change, the contrast between clay and grass and then on to the hard… For me, it is not necessary at this point to put my body through that.”
Raducanu, who lost to Katie Boulter in the semi-finals of Sunday’s Nottingham Open, insisted she is committed to playing for Great Britain. She was team-mates with Boulter, who is part of Team GB for the Olympics, in the Billie Jean King Cup win over France earlier this year and added: “I love playing for my country, I think that was pretty clear at the Billie Jean King Cup. I really fought, I enjoyed it so much, but the Olympics is just not the right time for me this year. I really hope to be a part of the next one, but with the changing surface it’s just not worth the risk for me at this point having recovered from the surgeries last year, but I do wish the team good luck.”
The ITF’s offer of a wild-card invitation only landed on Thursday, following decisions made by other former grand slam champions, such as Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber. Two places are kept back for players of this stature who do not have a high enough ranking to qualify.
Asked whether he was disappointed by Raducanu’s decision, Iain Bates, of the Lawn Tennis Association, replied: “I’m extremely happy to see her on the court playing the level of tennis that she’s played on and off during the course of this year.
“You forget that Emma is 21,” Bates added. “She’s got hopefully many Olympics ahead of her which is what she said to me. And I think she’ll get many experiences in the future, come Los Angeles hopefully, when she’s 25 and hopefully a medal shot. From an Olympic team side or head-of-women’s-tennis side, I’m very comfortable with the decision that she’s made.”
Murray undecided on Olympics
Andy Murray’s indecision about the final stages of his career extends even to the OIympics, the event in which he won back-to-back gold medals in London and Rio.
Despite being named in the British Olympic team on Sunday morning, Murray told reporters at Queen’s Club: “I’m not 100 per cent sure [about participating]. It depends a little bit physically how I’m doing and a bit how the next few weeks ago as well. My plan just now is to play but it’s not straightforward.”
There was something ironic about the fact that Murray was wearing a red Team GB Olympic top as he spoke. Scheduling has never been an exact science with him, and the various physical struggles afflicting his 37-year-old body have only made the uncertainty worse.
There is also the issue of the men’s doubles. Murray has been guaranteed a wild-card invitation into the Olympic singles tournament by the ITF, but he will not know for another week or more whether he and Dan Evans have earned a place in the doubles event. The ITF has promised to confirm the entry list by June 25.
Given that Murray failed to win a set in either of the tour-level clay-court matches he has played this season, he would not be a realistic contender for a singles medal. In the less predictable world of doubles, though, he fancies his chances much more. A green light for his partnership with Evans would almost certainly persuade him to make the trip.
“Clay was always the surface that gave me the most problems for my back,” explained Murray, whose doubtfulness about the Paris Olympics stems from the fact that the tennis event will be contested on the clay courts of Roland Garros.
“On the clay courts, balls generally are bouncing much higher and you’re having to generate more of your own pace. That was what would irritate my back. It was just always a bit of a struggle from probably about 2010, 2011.”
Yet Murray – who has suggested that this is likely to be his last summer of professional tennis – also expressed his enthusiasm for the whole Olympic experience. “I don’t know how many athletes go to an Olympics and say they didn’t enjoy it,” he said. “For me, it’s something completely different to what we experience the rest of our careers.
“You get the opportunity to speak to people from different sports and from countries all over the world. In Tokyo, me and my brother were speaking to a couple of brothers who were playing for separate countries. One of them had fled because of the situation in their country.
“I’ve loved going around chatting to the other athletes. You collect their flags, you get a bag of pins and attach them to your accreditation. It might seem like it’s a silly thing to do but I’ve really enjoyed that part of it. I’ve tried to go along and watch some of the other sports, providing it’s not distracting from your own performance. I have really enjoyed the whole thing.”
Bates confirmed that the LTA has nominated four male singles players (Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Murray). Boulter is the only female singles player nominated because of Raducanu’s decision and the low rankings of the other British women.
In doubles, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski are the only guaranteed pairing. The LTA are also nominating two women’s doubles pairings – Boulter and Heather Watson, as well as Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden – although it is possible that neither will qualify.
Mixed-doubles partnerships will be decided on-site once the players have arrived in Paris.
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