JOHN McEnroe believes Emma Raducanu may have been better prepared to deal with her struggles on and off the court since her epic US Open victory had she gone to college. The British sporting superstar recently admitted that sometimes she wishes she had never won the major championship in 2021 because of how crazy her life has become.
McEnroe, who presents the Omaha Productions docuseries McEnroe’s Places on ESPN+, believes that Raducanu will be ultimately grateful at the end of her career that she won at least one major championship.  But the tennis icon feels that if she spent some time as a student-athlete rather than becoming a pro at such a young age, she would have been better able to deal with the setbacks she has faced in recent years.
“I’m sure if you ask her at the end of her career would you rather have one one major or none, if it turns out that way, she would rather win one,” McEnroe told the U.S. Sun.  “[But] one of the reasons why I think kids go to college is that it gives them time to grow up and mature so they can handle things if and when something like this happens.”
“So it’s more difficult when you’re an 18-year-old and all of a sudden your world changes so drastically.” Almost two years ago, Raducanu rose to worldwide fame when she won the US Open aged just 18 without dropping a set and on her debut.
That sensational victory delivered a winner’s check of $2.5million and she has since earned millions more from endorsements and sponsorship deals. But since her fairy-tale of New York, Raducanu has struggled to find consistent form and suffered with all manner of physical issues and ailments.
She will not play at this year’s Wimbledon due to procedures on her hands and ankle back in May. Raducanu will miss the whole grass court season as she recovers from surgery. She posted a photo smiling in a hospital bed and said in a hand-written note to her 2.5million Instagram followers: “It is safe to say the last ten months have been difficult as I dealt with a recurring injury on a bone of both hands.
“I tried my best to manage the pain and play through it for most of this year and end of last year by reducing practice load dramatically, missing weeks of training as well as cutting last season short to try (to) heal it. “Unfortunately, it’s not enough. I’m having a minor procedure done on both hands to resolve the issues. “I’m disappointed to share that I will be out for the next few months and while I am at it will have another minor procedure that is due on my ankle.”
Raducanu also said that she sees the tennis tour as an untrusting place and is constantly on her “guard” to avoid the gold-digging “sharks” who view her as a “piggy bank”. “That moment on the court, when I was celebrating [the US Open], I was like: I’d literally trade any struggle in the world for this moment,” she told the Sunday Times.
“Anything can come my way, I’ll take it for what I have right now because this is the best thing in the world. “I promised myself that, on the court that day. Since then I’ve had a lot of setbacks, one after the other.
“I’m resilient, my tolerance is high, but it’s not easy. And sometimes I think to myself I wish I’d never won the US Open, I wish that didn’t happen.” Raducanu also has no coach at present after recently splitting with German Sebastian Sachs due to her layoff. She has had a number of different coaches over the past few years.
