plans
Emma Raducanu confirmed as entrant to Kremlin Cup but Indian Wells still unclear as Andy Murray urges LTA to capitalise on British tennis sensation’s success
Emma Raducanu has been confirmed as an entrant to the Kremlin Cup in Moscow next month.
The British teenage tennis sensation has been coy on when she would next take the court, and she has every right to be after winning the US Open.
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Her victory at Flushing Meadows catapulted her to stardom virtually overnight and the last week-and-a-half has been filled with A-list parties and media interviews.
Now she is back in training and all eyes are on when she would next be in action.
Winning the US Open has understandably changed her plans when it came to tournaments before the end of the year.
Her new ranking of 22 in the world affords her direct entry to more prestigious tournaments that she would have otherwise had to qualify for.
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"After the US Open I wanted to give myself this week to completely switch off from tennis because it's been an extremely intense but rewarding seven weeks,"
"I know I'll get back to work probably Monday or early next week to get back to training again. Schedule-wise, I'm not sure. Maybe Indian Wells, I don't know.”
Indian Wells starts on October 7 and as the rankings were taken before the US Open, she would need to qualify.
But a wildcard will almost certainly head her way as the organisers will surely want to get Raducanu, the hottest property in tennis right now, over to California.
While Indian Wells is still up in the air, she was listed as an entrant to the main draw of the Kremlin Cup, which starts on October 18.
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That is the day after Indian Wells finishes and plans could yet change again.
What is in no doubt is how Raducanu mania swept across the UK, and rest of the world, during the US Open.
More than nine million people watched her beat Leylah Fernandez to become Britain’s first female grand slam winner in 44 years.
A new generation of youngsters have the perfect role model to look up to and Andy Murray has urged the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to not squander the opportunity.
Murray has previously criticised the LTA for failing to capitalise on his success during his brilliant career that has seen him win three grand slams, so far.
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In 2019, he labelled the fact that so few indoor courts had been built in Scotland ‘madness’.
“It’s obviously a huge opportunity,” Murray said this week. “On the men’s side it was a 77-year wait for someone to win a singles grand-slam [until Murray won the US Open in 2012] and on the women’s side it was 44 years.
“For a country that hosts the biggest tennis tournament in the world and is certainly not lacking money, that’s not really good enough.
“Now should be an opportunity to try to make sure that it’s not another huge wait again. They need to try and take the opportunity.”
report that the LTA will approach the LTA to request extra funding for more public facilities.
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“I think one of the images that tennis has had over the years has just been that it’s not accessible enough,” Murray continued. “Whether that’s the case or not, I’m not sure exactly.
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“But as the image is that it’s sort of a rich person’s sport and is too expensive to play, I’m sure that potentially puts people off and maybe parents in getting their kids into it.
“The job of the governing bodies now is to show that isn’t the case and to invest as much as they can into park and public courts to make it as cheap and affordable as possible for people to play.”
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