Emma Raducanu hits back after Dubai event criticism prior to Doha loss: "I trained three hours of tennis and had two hours off"

Emma Raducanu saw off Rebeka Masarova in a 6-2, 6-3 win to begin her Indian Wells campaign in her first match since losing to Anhelina Kalinina at the Qatar Open which was blamed by some quarters on her decision to attend an event for Dior in the days prior.

But Raducanu spoke before the tournament and painted a different picture saying that it is certainly not the full story and that she trained for a number of hours before having a few hours off and that the only difference is that in her case, her dinners then go public.

A source of criticism since she broke out winning the US Open back in 2021 has been her brand deals, but this has mainly come from a source of her results not mirroring the success off court. But she has now set the record straight on that situation.

"I think that I trained [with] three hours of tennis, an hour and a half in the gym and had two hours off in the evening. But I don’t know, you should tell me what I should do in my off time from 8pm till 10pm," said Raducanu.

"It’s basically like training in Dubai and then having a nice dinner with a lot of people. The only difference is my dinners go public."