Emma Raducanu calls the fame of her US Open triumph ‘like playing with a backpack of rocks’ after huge public attention and commercial deals followed teenage success – but now says she’s ‘light and happy’ before the Australian Open

For Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open brought worldwide fame, many millions in the bank and, as she puts it, ‘a backpack full of stones’.

The 21-year-old from Kent has retained the first two of those but is happy to drop the last as she heads to the Australian Open, her first Grand Slam event in a year.

“I feel a lot lighter now than I did for a long time after the US Open, like I’m not playing with a backpack of bricks, I feel quite light and happy,” she said.

That was the reward for an almost eight-month break in her career, during which she underwent operations on her wrists and ankle. Absence has made the heart grow fonder.

Being able to work unhindered by injuries has been a joy, and it has fueled the rock-solid confidence that once saw her, as an 18-year-old, win ten consecutive matches at Flushing Meadows without dropping a set.

“I think my level, to be honest, is just too good not to get through if I put in consistent work,” she reflected with the matter-of-factness of someone who expects to quickly rise to her current ranking of 299.

The signs looked good last week when she came close to beating the formidable Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in Auckland. More will be known when she tackles the American Shelby Rogers in the first round here on Monday or Tuesday, the same player she defeated in the last sixteen in that special week in New York.

To some extent this has the feeling of a reset, although there is still an excess of the same external noise around her that is partly self-generated.

This week she pulled out of not one but two exhibition commitments she had made, deciding she would be better off focusing on less formal exercises. This happened on Friday in the form of separate sparring sessions with fellow countrymen Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage.

This month she already has a second coach in her support box, Nick Cavaday having flown in to replace Jane O’ Donoghue, the old friend and mentor who had accompanied her to New Zealand.

At a time when some tennis players opt for entourages that resemble that of a head of state, Raducanu still chooses to eschew the established norms of a regular support team.

The only people with her in Australia are Cavaday and her mother Renee, whom she believes she can trust implicitly. Cavaday stepped in after completing her first comeback training with the Lawn Tennis Association staff in Roehampton.

‘I worked with the LTA, who helped me a lot. “They have done a lot for me in the gym, but also in physio and tennis,” she said.” Then Nick was there too. I asked him because he coached me when I was between ten and twelve years old.

‘We just take it as it goes. It works very well so far. Of course I hope to continue with him, because I feel very comfortable with him. I know his sister (former GB player Naomi) very well because everyone is from Bromley.’

He has tour experience with the likes of Aljaz Bedene and Davis Cup doubles specialist Dom Inglot. Because she has experienced so many coaches and is skeptical of their long-term value, her current position is that she wants someone from whom she knows what she is getting. He will also have no illusions about its possible shelf life.

Her post-US Open experience has left her with a certain wariness: ‘When I look back on the past, I think that of course it is very important to surround yourself with competent and well-informed people, but also the type of person and their character , just making sure that we’re really getting it and that the intentions are really good.

“I’ve kind of realized that the only person who can help you is you, no matter who you talk to. I feel like no one can really tell me anything because no one has been in my position or situation.”

The operations in May left her completely incapacitated for weeks and that offered perspective: ‘For a while I had a scooter to get around. I couldn’t text or anything.

‘The feeling of not being able to move your body, to walk to the kitchen to get a snack for example, I couldn’t do that. And you miss it. You only really realize it when you experience it yourself.’

So she sets modest goals for these two weeks and the rest of the year: “Success for me in the long term is to play a full season, be healthy and be able to train consistently for weeks.” I know my level is there, I just have to keep working on it to make it more consistent. I don’t think about it: should I withdraw from this? That hurts?’

The talent will not have disappeared, and her and her father Ian’s unorthodox approach will ultimately be measured in the hard currency of results.

It’s certainly different to Britain’s No.1 Boulter, who has hired Andy Murray’s former fitness trainer Matt Little to work with her at home. This season has already brought her a victory over world number three, Jessica Pegula.

Both Boulter and Burrage reported that Raducanu was hitting the ball well, but from experience with extensive injuries, the former warned that seeing improvement is not a quick process.

“How long it took to get back is really not easy,” Boulter said. ‘Believe me, it’s not something you just pick up. But it seems like she’s playing really well. I’m sure it will be a great year for her. I expect big things.’

Raducanu could hardly have asked for a better draw as the 31-year-old Rogers has not played a competitive match in seven months.

With all eight GB players failing to make the qualification, Boulter will be optimistic about beating China’s Yue Yuan in her main draw opener, while Burrage is the only Brit of either gender to play on the opening Sunday against the German Tamara Korpatsch.