Why Emma Raducanu needs to swallow her pride if she ever wants to reach the top again amid nightmarish run

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Emma Raducanu’s rough 2025 rolled on with another first-round flop at Indian Wells, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Moyuka Uchijima. Her season record now sits at a shaky 3-6, with four opening-round exits. Since her 2021 US Open triumph, injuries—ankle, wrist, and more—have plagued her, but even when fit, she’s struggled. Post-Flushing Meadows, she’s hit just two WTA semifinals, her ranking too low to dodge top seeds early.

There’s a fix, though: drop to WTA 250s or even WTA 125s to stack wins. Like it or not, Raducanu’s current game can’t tangle with the tour’s elite week after week. Elina Svitolina and Belinda Bencic prove the strategy works. Svitolina, back in 2023 after childbirth, tanked her first three matches—two at WTA 1000s—before hitting a WTA 125 final. A week later, she won the WTA 250 Strasbourg Open, then notched a French Open quarterfinal and Wimbledon semifinal. Bencic, post-maternity in 2024, tested herself in three ITF events, peaking as a runner-up. This year, she reached the Australian Open fourth round and won the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open, rocketing from unranked to top 60.

Raducanu could follow suit. Swallowing pride for ITF or WTA 125 gigs isn’t glamorous, but it’s grit—honing skills and racking up matches. Her US Open win came as a qualifier; she knows the path. Yet, her wildcard habit—fueled by enduring fame—skips qualifying, costing her momentum. In Abu Dhabi this year, she eyed the qualifiers, but organizers handed her a main-draw spot. Two extra matches could’ve sparked something.

Look at Emiliana Arango: she won a WTA 125 in Cancun, then hit the WTA 500 Merida Open final as a qualifier. Wins breed belief—one hot streak can flip the script. Raducanu’s last final was that US Open, nearly four years ago. Stringing together four or five victories, even against lower ranks, would rebuild her fitness and edge. A title—any title—could jolt her career back to life.

She’s shown flashes of brilliance, just not consistently. To change that, tough calls loom: ditch the wildcards, grind in qualifiers, or drop to lower tiers. Short-term pain, long-term gain—her shot at the top demands it.

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