Since lifting the US Open trophy as a qualifier three years ago, Raducanu has not won another match in Flushing Meadows. She missed last year’s edition after undergoing surgery and has suffered two first-round defeats.
After losing her opening match to Sofia Kenin, Andy Roddick suggested that her scheduling was an issue during the latest episode of his podcast. And Clijsters, appearing as a guest, claimed the blame lay with either Raducanu herself or her team.
“There’s two things that I think could be the reason,” the former world No. 1 said. “It’s either maybe not having the right people around you who kind of guide you and say, ‘Okay, this is important to you like the scheduling, building enough weeks off in between, like training blocks to improve, to mentally switch off.’
“Or is it her? Is there other things going on mentally where she’s kind of just had it with media, pressure… whatever it is. It’s only those two things that could be the cause.”
Clijsters admitted that she didn’t know too much about Raducanu or her support camp. But she thought it was clear that something wasn’t right. The four-time Grand Slam champion added: “I don’t know enough about her.
“I don’t know her personally, I don’t know her team, I really don’t know much about that whole situation. I’m sorry but if you have a team of coaches around you or whoever is in charge, there’s obviously some misguidance there.”
Raducanu has already admitted to making the wrong decisions with her schedule. The world No. 72 skipped the Olympics to prepare for the North American hard-court swing and it seemed to be the right call when she reached the Washington quarter-final.
But she didn’t play another match until the US Open, skipping qualifying at two WTA 1000 tournaments when she failed to reach the main draw. After losing to Kenin, Raducanu said: “Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play, a little bit more before coming into the US Open.
“You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good. You feel like everything’s automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it. And you know manage my schedule slightly differently.”
