It’s always difficult to meet the demands others put on you. I recall at least a few examples of “next Federer” or “next Nadal” a few times. Carlos Boluda is a former tennis player that was the next Nadal and never reached its “potential”. Same with Dimitrov, always the next Federer but he won the tour finals and never peaked as “it should be”. Sometimes labels and “potential” are only pressure from illusion more than the reality itself. We have Alcaraz that has always been the “real deal” and imagine he never wins a GS. It’s not a bad career, most players dream to win a 1000 or a GS so I don’t think it’s a bad career but people will always want to have the next Seles or Sanchez Vicario and sometimes you need to keep the expectation where it belong: in the present work. I wish Raducanu starts from scratch and tries to build from there physical and emotionally. Will she win another major title? Who knows, but we should stop expecting teenagers to become magically the best player of all time. That simply happens once every 10 million.

I’ve always wondered Emma would make it big after being the first qualifier to win the US Open, but it’s really been an uphill battle for her. Hope she keeps going and stays passionate!