Emma Raducanu 'made the right decision' after making a big schedule change

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Emma Raducanu’s decision to pull out of Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup ties next week may have disappointed her team-mates, but it looks like the right move for the 22-year-old ahead of a crucial phase in her season.

Raducanu’s run to the quarter-finals at the Miami Open confirmed she is getting back towards her best form, with her rise back into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings confirming she is taking strides in the right direction.

It comes after a challenging start to 2025 that included a run of defeats after the Australian Open and the alarming incident in Dubai when she was confronted by what was described as a ‘fixated’ fan.

The trauma of that incident forced Raducanu to ponder whether she would play at the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, but her decision to fly to America was justified by her thrilling return to form in Miami.

Many would argue her success in Florida was due, in part, to an increased tournament schedule this era, as she has got match practice in and rediscovered some of the form that propelled her to the top of the sport in double quick time with her US Open win.

Yet this feels like a good moment for Raducanu to step back and take some time away from the court ahead of the bigger challenges in 2025.

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She has very few points to defend on clay courts over the next few weeks and therefore has a huge chance to leap up the WTA Rankings ahead of the French Open next month, while she will also be keen to steer clear of injuries heading into the grass court season in Britain.

That is where she will face the task of defending ranking points, with her run to the semi-finals at the Nottingham Open and her last-16 appearance at Wimbledon yielding big ranking points.

So taking some time away from the court now to ensure her body is ready for the challenges that lie ahead seems like the right decision, with Billie Jean King Cup ambitions a long way from the top of her priority list this season.

Raducanu’s decision to take a step back for a brief period is reminiscent of Jack Draper’s move to pull out of the ATP Tour in Dubai in February, as he looked to get himself physically ready for the Indian Wells Masters.

That proved to be a shrewd decision as he went on to win that ATP Masters 1000 event, breaking into the top ten of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career.

Finding a balance between chasing ranking points and entering plenty of tournaments and allowing your body to recover ahead of the next big challenge is a task all the top players face and Draper certainly got it right with his decision to opt out of playing in Dubai.

Now Raducanu will be eager to get herself ready for the clay court season by practicing on the LTA’s indoor clay surface at their National Tennis Centre, with her comments last year suggesting she is eager to develop her skills on clay courts.

"I've not spent so much time on clay over the past few years," she said.

"It was interesting at the beginning but I think I learned pretty quickly. I'm starting to feel a lot better on the surface. I think in the future it's going to be a surface that actually suits me. I'm maybe a little bit away from that right now but I'm enjoying it and I'm enjoying the challenge.

“I do love moving on clay, sliding, I find it very fun. It’s interesting, I think it’s different.

“It’s not necessarily the surface that I’m most comfortable on or my most preferred surface, but it’s something that I enjoy the challenge of.”

Raducanu is entered to play at the Open de Rouen in France later this month, but she could opt to delay the start of her clay court season to the Madrid Open at the start of May.

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