Emma Raducanu has been advised against playing in qualifiers while she still can despite the likes of Andy Roddick urging the British tennis star to do otherwise.
The 21-year-old was making her comeback from a long injury lay-off this year and she had to fight her way back up the rankings.
She began the year outside of the top 300 and had to rely on wildcard entries for some major events.
Raducanu began climbing up the rankings by the summer, but being outside the top 100 meant she was reliant on wildcard entries to make the first draw of some big events.
Emma Raducanu was denied a wildcard entry for a few events
GettyShe failed to receive a wildcard into WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati, meaning her only option was to enter through qualifying.
However, Raducanu opted against going through the qualifying rounds and received some criticism for not doing so.
Andy Roddick pointed to Naomi Osaka playing through qualifiers in Cincinnati, adding the Japanese tennis star wasn't too 'proud' to take the step down.
However, former world No 26 Tamira Paszek has argued why Raducanu might be making the right decision in not playing in qualifiers.
“It’s easy to say she should play this tournament just to get points or matches, but if she played at a lower level, she would be hunted,” Paszek told Tennis365.
“I have felt this. I had some success in my career and now I am playing smaller events and it is tough. People see you are a target and that is a tough challenge.
“So saying she should just play lower ranking events is not always so easy and I understand how it has been difficult for her.
“When you have experienced success like that and winning a Grand Slam, it’s always going to be tough.
Emma Raducanu attracted some criticism for not playing in qualifiers
PA“She won the US Open literally out of nowhere and you feel like the support around her after that had to be right.
“There were a lot of changes after that in her coaching team. I get it, I have been through a lot of coaching changes. Sometimes it’s financially related, sometimes it’s personal. People change, situations change.
“But when you have someone who has helped you to such massive success, money is not an issue at that moment.
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Reuters“I feel that if you are able to stick with something you are used to, it grounds you a little bit. If you have lots of new voices, it confuses you a little bit and then he injuries are added in and at the end, your identity of how you play tennis is lost.
“I had this. The input of so many voices came to me and in the end, I was so confused. Who am I? What kind of player should I be?”
Raducanu is scheduled to play in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals later this month for Great Britain.
