ANALYTICAL BREAK: EMMA RADUCANU'S OFF-COURT STRATEGY WITH NEW COACH
Emma Raducanu opens up on her tough 2025 season, revealing how she overcame stalker-related fears and finds mental peace by promoting her quiet off-season in Bromley.
Emma Raducanu has landed many endorsement deals early in her career. Yet, becoming an ambassador for the London borough of Bromley might be her dream sponsorship.
During a chat with tennis reporters after a tough but rewarding season, Raducanu was just trying to describe her quiet off-season at home when she started promoting Bromley. “I feel so settled here,” she said. “I haven’t been in the UK much this year because of competitions, but spending time with my parents has been great. I’ve loved being in Bromley. It reminds me of being a kid—same bedroom, everything.”
“Bromley now has these great coffee shops that didn’t used to be here. I’ve been trying them all. It’s been fun, with so much green space, and I’ve been taking the train. I’ve been in rush hour every day, which is something. But it’s my way to switch off. As soon as I’m on the train to Waterloo, I feel like my day is done.”
The peace Raducanu talks about comes after a good, if not amazing, season where she moved forward. She climbed from outside the top 60 to number 29 in 2025, her best ranking since 2022. This year, she played more often with fairly steady results.
She’s also worked to stabilise her team, which has been a problem. She seems to be doing well with her coach, Francisco Roig, who used to coach Rafael Nadal. She’ll start the 2026 season with a new physiotherapist and strength coach, Emma Stewart, who has experience in tennis and recently worked with the British Rowing team.
Lately, though, she’s been trying not to think about tennis. After ending her season early in Asia due to illness, she spent time improving her Chinese while visiting family in her mother’s home country and her Spanish at Roig’s suggestion, along with French. “I was trying to do everything,” she said, smiling. “I need rest days from my rest days. It takes a lot.”
As the 2021 US Open champ talked about learning languages, someone from her team joked that she now sends him texts in French, even though he doesn’t speak it. “It’s funny because I start mixing languages,” Raducanu said. “I’ll say a sentence in three different languages and not even know what I’m saying. But it’s been great for me to focus on something else and use my brain. It’s the best thing for me, and I feel pretty good, just trying to improve off the court.”
Besides good results, 2025 had tough times. In February, Raducanu had issues with someone who was fixated on her, which made headlines. These events affected her confidence. She once said her neck hurt from looking down in public to avoid being recognised. “Now it doesn’t. My neck doesn’t hurt as much. I’m not looking down as much. My posture is better,” she said, laughing. “But I think, ‘Are they going to see me on the train?’ It’s not so bad.”
Raducanu’s comfort in the city during the off-season shows she’s moved past the incident. “I’ve gotten over it,” she said. “What bothered me was seeing a photo of myself in London, and I didn’t see the paparazzi. I was with my two best friends. This happened last week, and some tabloid said I had a new boyfriend. But he’s my best friend’s brother. I thought, ‘Come on, guys. Get it right.’ I was with my best friend’s brother, and we were going to the rugby. They cropped my best friend out, so it was just me and me, and I didn’t see the paparazzi. That’s creepy. How did they take that photo? Other than that, I feel good knowing someone’s always watching out for me.”
Off the court, 2025 was a tough year in tennis. The latest discussions are about the long season, with players saying it’s too hard. But Raducanu has other ideas compared to players like Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and fellow British number one, Jack Draper.
“I think it’s a challenge,” she said. “I don’t think we should complain because that’s what we have. We earn a good living, too. It’s not always great. It’s hard sometimes, and we’re tired mentally and physically, and everything hurts. But what can we do? Some people have bosses who make them do things, but they have to do their job. If we don’t complain, it sets a better example for younger people who want to play tennis. If they see top players complaining about the schedule, it’s not inspiring.”
Next time Raducanu plays, she’ll join her friend Draper in the United Cup, a mixed-gender team event in Australia that starts the season. Before that, she’ll start training hard this week with Roig in Barcelona to build on what she did in 2025, improve her shots, and get closer to the top players.
“I had some tough times on and off the court early in the year,” she said. “But it taught me how strong I am and what I need to do to avoid going back there. I need to spend time learning and taking care of my mind. Learning about myself has been great, so I feel good.”
THE MIAMI CHAOS: WHY WORLD NO 1 ARYNA SABALENKA WAS SHOCKED BY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULING
Aryna Sabalenka admits she was "really shocked" after being moved off the main court during a chaotic Miami Open opener.
Aryna Sabalenka didn’t hide her surprise about how the Miami Open scheduled her first match this year. She admitted she was “really shocked” by it all.
Sabalenka, ranked No. 1 in the world, beat Ann Li, who’s ranked 39th, 7-6(5), 6-4, in her second-round match at the Hard Rock Stadium. But the start of the Miami Open was a mess; rainstorms washed out all the action on Wednesday, and several Friday matches slid into Saturday because the weather just wouldn’t let up.
Friday got hit with more delays. Sabalenka’s match ended up being moved off the main stadium court to the smaller Butch Buchholz court – definitely not what a top seed expects. At her press conference, Sabalenka explained that tournament organisers actually gave her a choice: play right then on another court or move to Saturday.
“Well, honestly, I was shocked they even thought about cancelling my match just because of the schedule,” Sabalenka said. “And they were giving me a couple stadium options, and I thought, why can’t Alcaraz and Fonseca start a little later? Last night, the night session didn’t even start until nine, and Mirra Andreeva was still playing.”
She kept circling back to how odd it felt. “The idea of cancelling? I just didn’t expect it. But I decided I’d rather play today. If I win, I get a day off to rest and get myself together.”
Sabalenka laughed a little at the whole thing. “Yeah, I was really shocked, but I’m glad I at least got to pick what worked best for me.”
When someone asked why it caught her so off guard, she was straightforward: “I’ve never dealt with anything like this before. I can’t remember anything similar. For me, it’s not a big deal to play and have the night session start a little later, but I guess the tournament has to think about tickets and what works for them.”
As for whether she always expects to play on the main court as the world no. 1, she shrugged it off. “It’s tricky, because Alcaraz was playing too, so you’ve got two No. 1s. What can you do? I’m just glad I had a choice.”
Next up, Sabalenka takes on the world. No 72 Caty McNally in the third round.
JOAO FONSECA REVEALS THE BRUTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAYING CARLOS ALCARAZ AND SINNER
Joao Fonseca labels Jannik Sinner a "robot" and claims Carlos Alcaraz has a "bigger arsenal" after his Miami Open exit.
Joao Fonseca hasn’t exactly had a smooth stretch lately. Just look at his recent opponents, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, two heavyweights at the top of the tennis world. Alcaraz beat Fonseca 6-4, 6-4 in Miami, but Fonseca came away with more than just a loss. He’s got a clearer view now of what separates these two giants.
For tennis fans, watching Fonseca face Sinner and Alcaraz was pretty much a dream matchup. The kid’s got hype; people seriously believe he’s the one who’ll someday challenge those two, who for now seem like they’re playing in their own league, barely threatened.
Fonseca still has a journey ahead before anyone can seriously talk about him joining their ranks. But the early signs are strong. He already snagged two ATP titles and climbed to world number 24 in his rookie year – a wild start. Injuries held him back for a bit at the beginning of 2026, but he seems to be finding his feet again, pushing the world’s best in two solid matches.
In Miami, Fonseca made his first-ever fourth-round showing at a Masters 1000, hoping he could keep his momentum against Sinner. He actually had three set points in the first, but Sinner took control and won two tiebreaks, ending Fonseca’s run, but not before Fonseca pushed him hard. Against Alcaraz, Fonseca tried to bring the same level, but it wasn’t enough. Alcaraz broke his serve once per set just enough to claim the win and finish Fonseca’s Miami campaign for another year.
So what does Fonseca make of the difference between Alcaraz and Sinner? After going toe-to-toe with both, he shared his thoughts: “I think Alcaraz has more arsenal than Sinner,” he said in his press conference. Sinner’s like a robot who just kills the ball and does everything perfectly. Carlos? He can do it all: topspin, power, movement, and net play. He’s got everything. It’s harder to read his game because he can break your rhythm in so many ways.”
When it came to Sinner, Fonseca felt more comfortable. “Jannik’s game let me come in without fear and play my style,” he admitted. “But I didn’t take the chances when I had them, and he played well; he’s world number one for a reason. I’ve got to look at my own mistakes and improve.”
The main thing, according to Fonseca, is that Alcaraz is unpredictable. “He’s got pretty much everything, so you don’t know what’s coming. Serve, serve and volley, serve wide and then blast a plus-one shot. That’s what makes playing him tough. You’ve got to play almost a flawless match.”
This wasn’t their first meeting. Fonseca and Alcaraz had faced off at the Miami Tennis Invitational last December, with Alcaraz edging out a super-tight final-set tiebreak. That match hinted at a rivalry that could get a lot more interesting in the future.
