Emma Raducanu explains why she doesn’t have many friends on the WTA Tour, ‘it’s very difficult’

Emma Raducanu is one of the most popular players on tour, entertaining fans around the world.

The British star made a name for herself at Wimbledon in 2021, when she reached the fourth round on debut.

Carrying that momentum through to New York, Raducanu won the US Open as a qualifier, becoming the first player in history to do so.

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Now ranked 46th on the WTA Tour, Raducanu has made real strides in 2025 and looks well-positioned to begin challenging for a second major before too long.

She’ll need to be focused if she wants to do so, something Raducanu is more than aware of, as she explains why she doesn’t have too many friends on tour.

Emma Raducanu finds it hard to compete against players she is friends with

During her press conference at the 2025 Washington Open, Raducanu opened up about her relationship with other players.

“I think when we’re on the tour, it’s very difficult to really open up with other players that you’re competing against,” she said.

“I think for me, I have a few friends on the tour, but it does add another dimension when you play them.

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“I have really good friends at home that I can trust and speak to, but other than that, you know, I don’t think that, yeah, this is — for me, I just find it harder to compete against a person I’m friends with.”

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Raducanu has unsurprisingly struck up good relationships with several British players over the years, including Katie Boulter, whom she partnered with at Queen’s earlier in the year.

Nicknamed ‘Boultercanu’, the pair won their opening match, but fell to the number one seeds in the quarterfinals.

Raducanu returned to the doubles court in Washington, alongside former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Making a winning start together, Raducanu and Rybakina (‘ER squared’), won their first-round match against Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls on Monday.

Raducanu is also scheduled to play mixed doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open later this year, as she may well have more ‘friends’ on tour than she thinks.

She hasn’t, however, made friends with her second-round singles opponent in Washington yet, as she admits they’ve never spoken to one another.

Emma Raducanu reveals she’s never spoken to Naomi Osaka

When asked if she’d ever spoken to her second-round opponent Naomi Osaka, Raducanu shook her head.

The pair have yet to meet on the WTA Tour as Raducanu now highlights the differences between her and Osaka’s road to the top.

“When I won my US Open, I came from school, I was no one, I was 200 in the world, and Naomi [Osaka] had already won Indian Wells,” she said.

“She was already a known figure on the tour, and people kind of expected, okay, like, she’s going to start doing well and start winning Slams.

“Whereas I think when I won, it was completely out of nowhere. It means that I didn’t quite build the foundations she had when she won her Grand Slams, which I think is why she was able to repeat and win another three, you know, back-to-back US Open and Australia.

“I think she was an established pro tour player, whereas I didn’t necessarily feel that way. It’s probably why I had a lot more dips afterwards.”

Raducanu was, however, keen to note the similarities between her and Osaka that are evident today.

“But yeah, it’s good to see the similarities now,” she said.

“I think we have both kind of started doing better and started enjoying the process more and enjoying developing.

“Yeah, I think it’s nice that after having such big highs and then some lows to both be working towards, you know, going up again.”

Raducanu and Osaka are currently separated by just five places in the world rankings, as they continue their charge back towards the top ten.

Rank Name Age Nationality Points 46 Emma Raducanu 22 British 1,211 47 Marie Bouzkova 27 Czech 1,176 48 Anna Kalinskaya 26 Russian 1,172 49 Jaqueline Cristian 27 Romanian 1,160 50 Hailey Baptiste 23 American 1,156 51 Naomi Osaka 27 Japanese 1,154 Snapshot of the WTA Rankings

Both players would no doubt love a big win in their second-round clash to push them further up the rankings.

Raducanu and Osaka will face off for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Washington Open on Thursday, July 24.

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