It was even more incredible, given that she had that breakdown at Wimbledon, when nerves got the better of her and she was unable to continue after the panic attack.

I heard that after that Tim Henman helped her to find a new coach, and I suspect that she may have had help from a sports therapist/psychologist to give her the confidence that she showed in the US Open.

A stairway to Heaven and a Highway to Hell give some indication of expected traffic numbers

She looks to have good people around her, but the naivety of youth and all that. I doubt she realises how much her life will change, and what she may lose rather than gain. Here's hoping that she's one of those rare individuals who can ride the wave of massive public interest and not let it change them. It will be fascinating to see how her career progresses. A massive talent, exciting times ahead!

Edited by BlueJay (14 Sep 2021 3.31pm)

Yes, life changing for lifestyle is great, but losing anonimity could be a curse. Hopefully a long tennis career will take up any negatives so much money could bring, lots of tournament travel etc, lucky her folks wont be far away!

I'm sure Andy Murray could give her a few tips......

A stairway to Heaven and a Highway to Hell give some indication of expected traffic numbers

It really does. Crazy sums. According to Forbes the highest paid sportsperson of the past 12 months was Connor McGregor, earning US$22 million (on the field); US$158 million (off the field)

Ronaldo earned US$70 million (on the field); US$50 million (off the field)

So the degree to which sponsorship deals can boost earnings is pretty wild. And Emma arguably has both a rise to fame and worldwide earning potential (China too etc) that is hard to rival.

was it really a breakdown? I don't know why people feel the need to make out she is tarnished by that episode - not saying you're saying that, but OK she may have been overwhelmed by the situation, but heat and physical exertion would have played their part, but even without that there's this underlying idea that she 'lost it' or showed some essential weakness. I quite like these stars, gymnasts, tennis players or whatever, who sometimes feel that they've had enough of the whole shabang and being everyone else's property, it's quite natural, just makes them human not weak or inadequate. Emma's come through that without being affected by all the mischaracterisation, it says a lot about her but also about the people around her. Fernandez too was great during and post match - sounded a bit dogmatic pre-match, but she was talking about her expectations, which are understandably very high.