Emma Raducanu, the former US Open champion, has stated that she removed Instagram and WhatsApp from her phone in order to ‘dwell under [her] own little rock’ after receiving criticism on social media.
Following her withdrawal from the Australian Open in January, the British women’s No. 1, who beat Danka Kovinic to go to the second round at Indian Wells on Thursday, deleted the social networking applications.
Raducanu has inked high-profile agreements with brands such as Tiffany & Co, Dior, British Airways, and Evian since her arrival on the global tennis stage a year and a half ago.
Others have cited the commitments of these corporate partnerships as reasons why the player has unable to replicate her prior professional success.
In an interview with The Times, Raducanu shared her decision was led by going through a moment in time where she just wanted to ‘zone in’ on herself.
‘After [the removal], I’ve just been living under my own little rock,’ Raducanu said.
‘Sometimes you just go through some patches where you feel like you just want to zone in on yourself. I was very content with my life, what I was doing with it.’
The world No 77 added: ‘I think that [negativity] is part of social media.
‘I feel that it affects you, but I’ve just learned regardless of what you do – if you do good, if you do bad – people are going to come at you regardless.
‘Now it doesn’t really bother me so much and I don’t really let it affect me.’
Due to those ongoing deals, her account has stayed active, even though it may now be run by a management agency.
The 20-year-old is the fifth-most followed tennis player on Instagram, with 2.5 million followers, ranking only behind ‘big three’ players Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, and Naomi Osaka.