22-time doubles Grand Slam champion Pam Shriver, in an interview with PICKSWISE, said that she does not expect
Emma Raducanu to make a big impact at
Wimbledon this year.
She explained that's it's mainly due to a lack of playing time with too many injuries in the mix as well. She said:
"I don’t expect a lot from Raducanu at Wimbledon. She’s had a lot of injuries, not enough time on the court, and there’s plenty of pressure back at her home Slam, the place where she didn’t return to the court to finish her match 12 months ago. Putting all of that together, I’d be surprised if she made a deep run."
Shriver further added:
"It doesn’t really surprise me that she’s had her struggles. After my first US Open at only 16-years-old, I reached the final and lost to Chrissie Evert. That was back in the late 70s at the start of the big tennis boom, it was in my home country. There was a lot of attention and I was still an amateur. I didn’t have any commercial obligations and that makes a big difference these days, completely different to what Raducanu is facing right now."
And finished off with:
"It makes you wonder if somebody with experience of that situation, what she might face, might just say, ‘let’s not overload the off-court obligations and partnerships’. Obviously, you want to capitalise, I completely understand the business side of things. The US Open was my only Major final, you never know how many more you might reach. It’s about finding a balance between the off-court obligations and on-court practise."