Emma Raducanu has been praised by a tennis legend amid ruling out studying at the University of Oxford.
Former British number one Johanna Konta has commended the young tennis player for her ruthless approach to hiring and firing coaches.
The 21-year-old star’s high turnover of coaches during her career is often questioned but Ms Konta believes it shows maturity and a clear-minded approach.
Citing Ms Raducanu’s decision to miss the French Open and the Olympics, for which she has also received criticism, Ms Konta said: “I think this is where Emma’s really good and very mature.
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“She has a thought, she has a direction in mind, and she goes for it and she makes the decision, and I think that’s a very mature approach for a young player.
“And the same thing with her coaching team.
"I wish I did that more where I felt like a coaching situation wasn’t working.
"I didn’t wait for it to run its course because of how I thought the media would start speaking about it.
“I really admire her for her conviction in how she goes about deciding things for her career.”
Ms Raducanu’s current coaching partnership with Nick Cavaday has endured since the beginning of the season, while at Wimbledon she also had Jane O’Donoghue, another former childhood coach who now works in finance, by her side.
READ MORE: Emma Raducanu rules out studying at Oxford University
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While her fourth-round loss to qualifier Lulu Sun was undoubtedly disappointing, Ms Konta believes it will help in the long run.
“I think it’s great to see her again have four successive matches,” she said.
“I think her last match against Sun was actually really positive. I don’t think we’ve had enough of a chance to see Emma in a situation where a lot of resistance has been put up against her.
“I think it was actually positive to see her in that space, especially how she dealt with that first set where Sun played really smart against her. To then see Emma really get stuck into that second set and turn the momentum a bit.
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“Ultimately I think in a player’s career this is where you spend most of your time. You’re not going to spend your career just rolling through everybody.
“The more she can be here, I think the more resilient a player it will make her and ultimately I think it will be what makes her a really, really great tennis player.”
Ahead of the Championships, Ms Raducanu was pictured in the main quad of Corpus Christi College during a visit to Oxford University.
“I’m very much focused on my professional tennis career,” she said in the post-match press conference.
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“Once that’s over maybe or once I have more disposition or more time, that’s for sure something I would love to explore.
“For now I’m very much focused on the tennis.”
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