Emma Raducanu future's thrown into doubt by own agent amid gruelling recovery from surgery
Emma Raducanu is currently recovering from surgery
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Emma Raducanu's own agent doubts she will be among the top five players in the world for the next 20 years.
The Brit sent shockwaves around the tennis community when she defied the odds to win the US Open back in 2021.
Raducanu has struggled in the time since, however, with the 20-year-old also suffering from injury problems.
Right now, the youngster is recovering after undergoing triple surgery in May. She had operations on both of her twists, while a problem with her left ankle was also addressed.
Emma Raducanu's agent has opened up on tennis star
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And while agent Max Eisenbud expects her to be a formidable force once she returns, he also doubts she'll be at the top consistently for many years to come.
Speaking to The Tennis Podcast, he said: “You don’t just accidentally win the US Open the way she did, you have to be great to do what she did.
"And I think she will settle and things will get more calm for her and I think she’ll make more deep runs and I think that she’ll win more Grand Slams when it’s all said and done.”
He added: “Do I think that she will be in the top five of the world for 20 years?
"I don’t think so, I don’t think she’s that but I think she will win more Grand Slams, I think she will compete to be in the top when things settle down."
Raducanu's focus for the time being is getting back onto the court.
Her last appearance at a tournament came back in April.
Raducanu was on top of the world when she got the better of Leylah Fernandez at the US Open back in 2021.
Yet she's struggled ever since, with injuries often hampering the youngster from playing at her maximum potential.
With Raducanu failing to achieve consistency, some have wondered if her growing list of sponsorship deals is impacting her tennis career.
Yet Eisenbud refutes that and insists sponsors are happy with the 20-year-old.
He said: “In Emma’s situation, we could have done 100 deals.
“She could be doing deals, and deals and deals, they left millions and millions of dollars on the table, they strategically took the best brands with the most limited time, the brands that understood that it was going to be a rocky road.
“None of her sponsors have ever called up and been like ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe she’s not winning!’. No one.
"I know people want to say ‘the pressure, she’s got the pressure’, I think the pressure she has is that she won a great tournament and she wants that feeling again and she wants to keep winning.”
He continued: “The sponsors couldn’t have been more supportive, even through the injury.
"I know people want to say that the narrative, the big bad IMG is bringing in all this money and making them take deals but we’re a pretty well-established company, we’re not living and dying on commission.
"Our lights are going to stay on in the office.
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Emma Raducanu has struggled since winning the US Open back in 2021
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"We want to do the best thing for the client and keep the client for a long time.”