Emma Raducanu could play lower level after all after admitting post match after being thrashed 6-0, 7-6 by Anhelina Kalinina at the
Qatar Open, but also has been criticised on social media for putting her sponsorships first after arriving in Doha on Sunday after attending a glamourous launch the night before also attended by model, Naomi Campbell and actress Vanessa Hudgens to name a few that she was pictured with.
Raducanu who is worth an estimated £12m, second only to Iga Swiatek in terms of riches according to Forbes and technically first for marketability with the latter accruing most of hers through tournament wins attend the opening of the One&Only One Za'abeel hotel in Dubai on Saturday night.
In the past she has described criticism on her sponsorship commitments as unfair, but as tennis fans noted on social media as well as other publications, it seemed to have an impact on her Doha preparations as she wasn't at the races against the Ukrainian with hardly no practice due to rain delays and arriving late.
She will not attempt to play at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with her ranking too low to even play qualifying and a wildcard needed. Instead she will likely return at Indian Wells and Miami and is also signed up for ATX Open Austin. Error strewn throughout her loss to Kalinina, it was the first signs that perhaps she needs to go back to the drawing board and maybe even play ITF matches to gain match practice and also snub more commitments in order to gain a further footing back into the game.
“I think that I need to kind of schedule my tournaments a bit better as well as just trying to get some more matches under my belt,” she said on Sky Sports.
“I think that I’m just going to go home and practice and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
