The bottom line or the baseline? Emma Raducanu finds herself pulled by the demands of both but insists she will find the right balance.
The adjustment to her status as US Open champion continues to be a difficult one for the British No 1.
And after an error-strewn early exit from the Miami Open to Czech Katerina Siniakova this week, she now heads into the unknown territory of the European clay season.
Emma Raducanu was knocked out in the second round of the Miami Open in three sets
She does so with widespread questions being raised — often from beyond tennis, with England rugby coach Eddie Jones an unlikely contributor — about how her burgeoning commercial activities fit with establishing herself as a top player.
This week has seen, again, these two aspects of her fledgling career rub up against each other uncomfortably.
On Monday she announced her latest blue chip endorsement, with Porsche, and in its wake came Thursday night’s defeat in her last hard court match until later in the summer.
At 19 Raducanu has eight different sponsorships and Sportsmail understands one more — a major bank — is in the works.
She is sufficiently self-aware to understand that the optics are awkward, but issued a robust assurance that off-court ventures are not impacting on her work ethic.
‘I think that maybe you just see, on the news or on social media, me signing this or that deal,’ she said. ‘I feel like it’s quite misleading because I’m doing five, six hours a day, I’m at the club for 12 hours a day.
England rugby coach Eddie Jones has questioned whether Raducanu is getting distracted
‘But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden it’s “I don’t focus on tennis”.
‘I think that it is unfair but it’s something I have learned to deal with and become a bit more insensitive to the outside noise.
‘At the end of the day, I feel like my days (servicing sponsor requirements) are pretty limited. I’m not doing crazy days. I’m doing three, four days every quarter, so it’s really not that much.’
This time a year ago she was a largely unknown A-level student. Now she is forcing herself to ignore social media commentary about her activities, including obvious comparisons between the number of post-New York contracts she has signed and the number of wins she has notched up — just four.
‘In the beginning I probably would occasionally peek at what’s being said,’ Raducanu said. ‘But now I don’t really bother doing that because sometimes it’s not going to be so favourable or positive and I feel like it can get to you. I’m just learning to thicken my skin a bit.
Raducanu has insisted that she does not pay attention to criticism on social media
‘For me, I’m doing these things, but I’m training hard, putting the hours in and especially now I feel I just need to get more volume and capacity. I am doing a lot and I’m spending a lot of time at the club.
‘These deals, of course I’m so grateful for them, but my tennis is my focus. That’s definitely at the front of my head.’
Niggling injuries and a bout of Covid before Christmas have not helped and those who have worked closely with Raducanu recently confirm there is no indication she has been slacking.
And, in a precarious profession, it is understandable that she would wish to make herself and her family financially secure in the window of opportunity following Flushing Meadows.
The reality is that nobody will know for some time whether they have a detrimental effect on her tennis, the level of which was misrepresented by what was as an astonishing result in New York.
Raducanu has admitted she is still figuring out her goals after her stunning US Open triumph
In technical terms she was hugely aided there by quick conditions, offering more free points on serve, which she has not experienced since.
And the events of Flushing Meadows could not make up for the missed teenage years of physical development, when tennis was not her everything.
‘Three good weeks in New York aren’t going to outdo the years of hard work the other players have been doing,’ she said.
‘Of course they’re going to play better against me because I have a target on my back. But so what?
‘By them playing their best level against me, I feel like it’s going to make me better. I have learned a lot in the last six months.
‘I’m just trying to figure out what my goals are and I feel like at the beginning after the US Open, they’re kind of different to now.
‘I wouldn’t even admit it to myself at the time, but probably I did put more pressure on myself.’
An indicator of her extraordinary career trajectory is that when she first steps on the clay next month, it will be without having ever played a senior match on the surface. Over spells in recent matches Raducanu has given reminders that she is an outstanding talent, but for the next two months, maybe more, it is unlikely to get any easier.
