At Wimbledon, Emma Raducanu’s Withdrawal Renews Focus on Well Being

Abramowicz, who was counseling Swiatek long before she broke through to win last year’s French Open, said that preparing athletes for what they might face was vital rather than just helping them cope after they face it.

“I also feel we often prepare athletes for a loss, how to deal and cope with that, but we don’t do enough to prepare them for what you do when you reach your top level and achieve success,” she said.

Abramowicz is encouraged to see more athletes, including tennis stars like Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia at Wimbledon, working openly with sports psychologists and mental coaches.

But she thinks all of those in regular contact with players need to be better educated on mental health.

“Everyone from the stakeholders to the coaches to the physiotherapists to the journalists to former players who work for media platforms,” she said. “After Roland Garros, I’ve already seen a difference from the WTA media staff and how they approach players after a match. They are asking about their well-being and asking if they feel comfortable doing press after a match and when the best time might be to do it. So we have changes.”

After Raducanu’s retirement on Monday, John McEnroe, a former player who is working as an analyst for the BBC, said he felt badly for her and that it appeared the experience had all been “a bit too much, as is understandable.” His comments drew criticism from Judy Murray, Andy Murray’s mother, and others for being speculative, coming before Raducanu had spoken herself.

The youngest, least experienced players deserve the most thoughtful treatment. Putting Raducanu in a prime-time television slot on No. 1 Court may not, with hindsight, have been the wisest or most empathetic move. Nor was it reassuring to read a story in the British news media on the morning of her fourth-round match that predicted Raducanu could be one of the top three earners in women’s tennis if she could “sustain her form.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/sports/tennis/wimbledon-emma-raducanu.html