Olympic gold medalist questions Raducanu’s Cincinnati withdrawal: "Not really sure what the play was here"

Former gold medalist Monica Puig was surprised by Emma Raducanu's decision before the US Open. The 21-year-old Brit played the WTA 500 DC Open, reaching the quarterfinals, where she lost to eventual champion Paula Badosa.

A week later, Raducanu was expected to compete in the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open, where she needed to play in the qualifying rounds, but she opted to skip it and focus on preparing for the US Open without any competition—a decision that doesn’t make much sense to Monica Puig.

The Puerto Rican, who won Olympic gold in singles in 2016, believes that what Raducanu needs now is to keep gaining match rhythm, and playing more high-level matches is key: "We never really have to shy away from qualifying," she said. "It doesn’t mean you are less than by any means, but getting those extra matches, which Emma, I feel like, needs at this point to get that momentum going into the US Open."

"Because, let’s call it like it is, practice is practice, but playing in a match situation is something that can’t be replicated in practice and can only be done while competing," Puig added. "Not really sure what the play was here, but hopefully she can find her form heading into the US Open."

For now, Raducanu has mentioned that she expects to keep a reduced tournament schedule in 2024 to avoid injury issues. Nevertheless, she has made significant progress in the WTA rankings, currently sitting at World No. 71, which allows her direct entry into Grand Slams, though she still needs to climb a bit higher to avoid playing in qualifiers for all tournaments.

"My priority is to develop my game, which means I probably won't play too many tournaments this year. I don't want to make up for lost time in 2023 just by playing tournaments; it's about building a solid and important foundation to be in good physical and playing condition over the next few years," she commented back in July while competing at Wimbledon.