Emma Raducanu hasn’t followed through on her early promise the way Luke Littler has – and she’s keen to find out why.
The British talent is back in action on Australian Open where she hopes to finally get back among the elite.
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The Bromley native shocked the sporting world in 2021 when she won US Openand became the first qualifier to win a major and the first women’s Grand Slam winner since 1977.
Yet injuries and poor form have dogged her progress since then, which cannot be said for Littler.
The 17-year-old burst onto the scene at the 2024 PDC World Championship by reaching the final, and he followed up that promise with three Premier Event wins before becoming world champion at the second time I asked in early 2025.
Unsurprisingly, Raducanu was asked for his thoughts on his compatriot and shared The Times: “Fantastic respect for him.
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“Especially to go out and back it up by winning the title. It’s hard.”
Asked if she would like to meet the new face of darts to learn from him, she said: “Big time.
“I would love to meet all the top athletes and top individuals who have succeeded in their fields.
“I think darts is such a precision sport that I would be so keen and interested to hear things that he had to say about it, and (how to) stay focused.
“Because you can be so close but not necessarily make the final shot. In that sense, it’s quite similar to tennis.”
In the same year as her legendary US Open win, Raducanu reached the fourth round at Wimbledona feat she repeated in 2024 when the 22-year-old showed some of her best form.
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Ranked 56th in the world, she now hopes to return to the top 30, but injuries still linger until the start of 2025 after a difficult few years.
In 2023, she underwent major surgery on both her wrists and an ankle, but looking back on the previous years, she admits she struggled with public scrutiny as much as injuries.
“Not much prepares you for that,” she explained. “You feel that you are constantly on edge because you are being followed (by photographers) or something.
“But I think the biggest part is the judgment and the commentary on every single decision you make.
“It was really hard for me to deal with, to try to desensitize myself to and just understand that it comes with the territory you’re in.
“But I think trying to stay away from that and continue on my path has probably been the biggest adjustment for me.”
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Reflecting on what she has learned since then, she continued, “In my case, I didn’t necessarily have a really strong foundation when I won the US Open.
“Now I feel like I’m building them and building a good team around me as well.
“Now I feel like I’m in a place where I’m actually doing the job consistently, I can stay healthy and I think from here I can build on that, whereas before I felt like I’d won the big thing with not the strongest foundation .
“And I think that’s all for sustainability.”
