Andy Roddick has made his thoughts clear on Emma Raducanu following the British number one’s second-round defeat at the Australian Open
Andy Roddick has urged Emma Raducanu to treat tennis like a job following her early Australian Open exit. The 28th seed was knocked out in the second round by Anastasia Potapova, continuing a disappointing Grand Slam record since her US Open victory in 2021.
The British number one made steady progress in 2025, climbing the rankings to secure a seeded position in Melbourne. However, she ended her season prematurely due to ongoing injury and fitness problems that have marred her career.
Going into 2026, Raducanu expressed a desire to play less, a sentiment that former US Open champion Roddick disagrees with. Commenting on her loss to Potapova on his Served podcast, he said: “An upset on paper but I had Raducanu losing, Potapova can play. I love Raducanu, I think she’s wildly intelligent, her game is obviously fantastic.”
However, he continued: “I read stuff in the off-season, [her] saying, ‘I want to play a little less this year.’ Play less? You’re a Grand Slam champion who’s [ranked] 30 in the world, you’ve got to play more.
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“I want her to want to play more. You don’t know all of it but when you have an off-season to train, you should be coming in pretty healthy.
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“So Emma saying she wants to play less… Earth wants you to play more. You haven’t played a full season. It’s been five years since the [US] Open [win]. At some point we’re going to have to get to it being a job.”
Raducanu had previously expressed her desire to manage her schedule for the sake of her health and well-being. Speaking to the BBC last month, she said: “I would say next year I hope to play less than I did this year.
“But I think also just incorporating into my warm-ups, fitness, so it’s not necessarily just my fitness sessions are like separate. You just have to try and drip feed as much as you can in for the overall health of your body, little and often, I think is the biggest thing that’s helped.”
Following her loss to Potapova, Raducanu may be reconsidering her strategy. She hinted that her collaboration with coach Francisco Roig, whom she appointed last summer, hasn’t yet found the right formula.
She said: “I think I’m going to take a few days, get back home and try and just re-evaluate my game a bit. Watch it back, see where I can improve.
“What I have been feeling and also what is visually apparent. I definitely want to feel better on certain shots before I start playing again.
“I want to be playing a different way, and I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something that I just want to work on.”
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