British tennis star Emma Raducanu, best known for winning the 2021 US Open, clashed with a chair umpire over a crying baby in her showdown with Belarusian World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati on August 11.
The match was tense and consisted of 13 deuces, lasting 3 hours and nine minutes. During this time, Raducanu was rebuked twice by the match official.
Highlights
- The match lasted 3 hours 9 minutes with 13 deuces and two umpire rebukes for Raducanu.
- Fans sided with Raducanu after the baby cried continuously during key serve moments.
- Francisco Roig becomes Raducanu’s 8th coach in 4 years, hired just one week before the match.
She ultimately lost to her seasoned opponent but received raucous applause from the audience and Sabalenka for her tenacious performance.
The crowd took Emma Raducanu’s side against the empire and crying baby
Image credits: Getty / Robert Prange
In the third set, just as the 22-year-old was about to serve, she swivelled abruptly and addressed the match umpire, saying, “It’s been like ten minutes,” referring to the unhappy child on the bleachers.
“It’s a child… Do you want me to kick the child out of the stadium?” the official fired back.
The crowd, who apparently found the crying baby as big an inconvenience, responded for Raducanu—who shrugged her shoulders in the way of an answer—with a chorused “yes.”
Image credits: Instagram / emmaraducanu
“I can call in,” the official noted, “but we need to continue for the moment.”
The 22-year-old Brit found herself on the wrong side of the umpire twice in one match
Raducanu ran afoul of the umpire again when she stepped closer to her new coach, Francis Roig, for an exchange during which she was heard saying, “Help me understand.”
This caught the umpire’s attention, who called out: “Emma, Emma!
Image credits: Peacock
“You can’t actively approach him and he can’t leave his position, you know that? You cannot have a conversation.”
Emma had an answer for this. “I can’t hear anything because the music is really loud,” she replied.
“Then he needs to speak louder,” retorted the official. “You cannot actively approach him, and he cannot leave his position; he needs to stay where he is, and you cannot actively go towards him.”
“What you’ve done with the ball is fine,” she explained, “but you cannot actively go at the end of a game especially.”
“Sorry I didn’t know,” came Raducanu’s answer.
Members of the public feel she has a point and are saying, “It’s supposed to be quiet for a tennis match”
Responding to the London-based UK Metro’s update, one fan asked: “Why did a parent take a baby to a tennis match in the first place?”
Image credits: Instagram / emmaraducanu
“I’m with Emma,” echoed another. “It’s supposed to be quiet for a tennis match, a baby crying would definitely have been distracting.”
An individual with a different perspective weighed in. “Tennis players and golfers are Wimps.
“A basketball player at the foul line puts up with screaming chants as well as a QB (quarter back) and field goal kickers,” they said.
Another netizen felt she was venting her frustration over her own mistakes on the baby
Image credits: Instagram / emmaraducanu
A netizen claiming to have watched the match saw the situation from the crying child’s mother’s perspective, and wrote:
“The baby cried a few times and the mom was trying to quiet her down,” before saying that Raducanu’s irritation came from her own mistakes on the court.
The netizen further noted that the mother—who was reportedly attending the match with three other minors who appeared to be enjoying the contest—took her colic baby out of the stadium after the athlete complained.
Image credits: Instagram / emmaraducanu
“I can guarantee the mom would have rather been home, but was doing it for her kids,” they concluded.
Raducanu’s career has been a storm of injuries and speculation
“It’s been sideways then downhill for Radacanu since her US Open win.
Image credits: Instagram / emmaraducanu
“Modelling, injuries and coaching issues seem to be responsible from a public perspective.”
Raducanu came into the spotlight in October 2024, when she was seen in a $136,000 Porsche.
Her behavior has since highlighted the rapid rate at which she goes through coaches
Leading up to the sighting, she had been plagued by injuries that hampered her progress on the tennis court, which then triggered rumors that her German luxury car sponsor was preparing to cut her loose.
Image credits: Getty / Francois Nel
As a nod to the observant fan’s comment, Frances Roig is Raducanu’s eighth coach in the last four years.
He was hired as recently as August 4, per ESPN, and it appears that the 22-year-old is laying a lot of store by him.
“I hope Francisco Roig can help me beat the top players,” an exclusive by The Guardian reported her saying of Roig, who has an 18-year track record of training Rafael Nadal.
Some feel Sabalenka should have been removed for her "ridiculous" celebratory screams
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