Having recovered from her injuries, Emma Raducanu is now ready for the next tennis season and believes that she is a ‘dangerous player’ to look out for.
The young athlete has made a spectacular comeback to the court at the Billie Jean King Cup, enabling Great Britain to advance to the semi-finals, after missing two months due to a foot injury.
Raducanu has been playing well at the event, defeating Canadian Rebecca Marino and German Jule Niemeier in straight sets. As she made a triumphant comeback, she also pondered on her current standing on the WTA. She admitted: “My assessment is, I think sometimes I need reminding, I’m top 60 in the world and I have played less than 15 events, which is pretty unheard of, in a way.”
She added: “I have to pat myself on the back for that. I know I’m a dangerous player. I know no one wants to pull my name in the draw…. I take pride in that, and I’m looking forward to hopefully staying on court longer next year.”
Preparing for the 2025 season
With the Australian Open less than two months away, the 22-year-old player wants to maintain her momentum and adapt it to her 2025 season preparation rather than taking a break after the BJK Cup.
Raducanu said: “I think traditionally you’d probably have a bit of a break and take a holiday or something… But I feel like I have had four, five weeks off tennis, and I don’t really need any more time off.
“If anything, I’m excited and just itchy to get on the practice court, and of course, seeing some of my performances this week, it just incentivises me to do more work… I’m really pleased with how I fought and how I’m faring up against these top girls [at the BJK Cup]… I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot with my tennis right now,” she added.
British tennis player Emma Raducanu is keen to play as many games as she can in the last weeks of the 2024 season.
At the Korea Open this week, the 21-year-old is participating in just her third tournament following her defeat in the fourth round of Wimbledon. In her recent match, she overcame American Peyton Stearns in the opening round.
The former US Open champion has acknowledged that she made mistakes with her summer programme and that she would want to play as many matches as possible in Asia, where she feels most comfortable.
Raducanu’s 2024 playing season
Raducanu only played in Washington before the US Open, having opted to skip the Olympics earlier this summer in order to concentrate on the hard-court swing in North America. After losing to Sofia Kenin in the first round, the former Flushing Meadows champion broke down in tears and admitted she should have played more.
Now that she will be competing in two Asian events—the Wuhan Open next month and the China Open starting on September 25—Raducanu is trying to make up for the missed plays.
The athlete admitted: “I think the rest of the year, as long as I’m healthy, I’m going to try and finish the season and play as many matches as I can.”
She added: “It’s something I’m really light on since the grass through the [Washington] DC period. I’ve not played many points, even in practice…. So as gruelling as [the match against Stearns] was, I think I had three hours of match experience which can only aid me going into the next few weeks…For me now, I just want to play matches and, in the meantime, do a little bit of work on my game where I can.”
Raducanu’s Asian foray
Raducanu, who has been eager to play in Asia again after missing the majority of the previous season due to surgery on both wrists and one ankle, will take on eighth-seeded Yue Yuan in the second round.
The athlete has a great chance to improve on her current position of 70th in the world over the next several weeks as she has no ranking points to defend.
With her upcoming games, she declared: “Playing in China, I’ve never done that, so that’s going to be a first for me. I feel pretty comfortable in this environment, which is an advantage…. I stacked the year on the back-end heavy because I’m excited. I thrive in Asia.”
British tennis sensation and the surprise 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu has come a long way down. She is currently ranked 133rd in the world following hand and ankle surgeries. “I’ve been very high and very low,” as she told The Times. But a comeback is definitely on the cards.
Recently photographed working out in a gym, she said on her Instagram that it was ‘nice to be reintroduced’ to the equipment after several months away from physical exertion due to her injuries.
She was forced to sit out the French Open and Wimbledon after surgery on her hands and her ankle.
She had been ailing earlier, too. But, despite suffering from ailments, she won five out of 10 matches in 2023, including an amazing run to the BNP Paribas Open fourth round at Indian Wells, where she lost to defending champion Iga Swiatek in March.
Raducanu’s spirit remained unbroken despite a difficult defeat against Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart in April.
However, she was forced to withdraw from the Madrid Open later in April due to an injury on her right hand. That’s when she decided on surgery.
“I tried my best to manage my pain and play through it”, but she couldn’t any more, she said, speaking from her hospital bed in May.
She missed most of the clay and grass court seasons due to injuries, which caused her ranking to slip to 133rd. She also split with her coach, Sebastian Sachs, which added to the difficulties. Nevertheless, she is optimistic about the future.
Emma Raducanu now at what stage of recovery?
The stubborn 20-year-old tennis star is recovering well. Her engrossing films demonstrate how she uses red light treatment to promote muscle repair and lessen inflammation while she trains assiduously.
Here’s a look back at her recent record.
Tournament
Result
Opponent
Citi Open (Quarter-finals)
(August 2022)
Lost 7-6, 6-1
Liudmila Samsonova
Canadian Open (1st Round) (August 2022)
Lost 7-6, 6-2
Camila Giorgi
Western & Southern Open (August 2022)
Defeated Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4
Serena Williams
Defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5
Victoria Azarenka
Lost to Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4
Jessica Pegula
Now she is hoping to do better and wow the world again on the WTA tour though she is likely to miss the US Open.
Emma Raducanu’s agent, Max Eisenbud, expects her to win more Grand Slams.
Speaking to The Tennis Podcast, he said: “You don’t just accidentally win the US Open the way she did, you have to be great to do what she did.
“And I think she will settle and things will get more calm for her and I think she’ll make more deep runs and I think that she’ll win more Grand Slams when it’s all said and done.”
He added: “Do I think that she will be in the top five of the world for 20 years?
“I don’t think so, I don’t think she’s that, but I think she will win more Grand Slams, I think she will compete to be in the top when things settle down.”
Tennis legend Billie Jean King still marvels at the way Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open.
“When Emma Raducanu won, it was fantastic,” she told Sky Sports. “Just think about this, she won 10 matches in a row, she did not lose a set. She won every single one of those 10 matches in straight sets. I don’t think anyone comes close to that.
“As she gets older, no matter what happens to her life she’ll always have this US Open title – always and forever. And the way she did it: Wow! It’s amazing.”
Emma Raducanu excited about what’s next in her playing career
Emma Raducanu claims to have “rekindled” her passion for tennis and is full of anticipation for what lies ahead.
“I’m very happy to have rekindled the love for tennis and just enjoying the challenges that come with it and not getting so down about it, just trying a way to get around,” the athlete declared.
The British youngster, who lost badly to Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the Madrid Open first round, claimed to be “mentally and emotionally exhausted” after her recent matches. After a season marred by injuries in 2023, she decided to skip the French Open in order to be properly prepared for the grass-court season.
Earlier this month, Raducanu made her competitive comeback at the Nottingham Open, where she achieved a satisfying run to the semi-finals.
What’s next for Raducanu?
With her upcoming battle against fellow former US Open champion Sloane Stephens on Tuesday at Eastbourne, Raducanu will continue her preparations for the start of Wimbledon next week.
Raducanu said: “I’m just really grateful to have this feeling again because it’s something that I feel like I’ve been missing in a way for the last few years, and I haven’t felt this good about my tennis and excited about it and passionate for a long, long time.”
“I really feel like I’m in a lot better spirits on and off the court,” she added.
After undergoing wrist and ankle surgery last season, Raducanu, the former British number one, is currently ranked 168th in the world.
Emma Raducanu is predicted to become “one of the best players in the world” by Eurosport expert Mats Wilander, provided that she maintains her fitness.
At the Australian Open, the British athlete made a triumphant comeback, defeating 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4) 7-6(2) in a span of two hours and 19 minutes.
Raducanu had to miss the Auckland Classic in the run-up to the year’s first Grand Slam event due to back injuries. She had also missed opportunities the previous two years due to physical setbacks, including a double wrist surgery in 2023. However, she is now confident about competing in Melbourne and feels that she is in good shape to play.
In round two, Raducanu battles American Amanda Anisimova, and she labels her opponent as a “big challenge” and a “hard ball-striker”.
Expert Wilander admitted: “That’s a tough match, but this was a tough match as well… Alexandrova is a good player and you have to play well. I’m very impressed with Emma. Every time I see her, there is no question in my mind that she can become one of the best players in the world if she stays healthy long enough.”
He added: “Anisimova hits the ball very, very, very hard. It’s going to be a tough match, but I love seeing Emma back.”
Tin Henman, another Eurosport expert, said: “It’s great to see her on the match court… Last year, she didn’t play a massive amount of tennis, and you think that she needs to get matches under her belt.”
“She had to pull out of Auckland because of that back spasm. If you’ve got a bad back, the last thing you want to do is serve so she might not have served that much coming into the event… She talked about how her service motion has changed, it’s a little bit longer… If you can serve 15 double faults and still end up winning, there are still other areas of your game that are working pretty well. Against a seeded opponent, she’ll be pleased to get that win under her belt,” he added.
Emma Raducanu, the former US Open Champion, has withdrawn from the Hong Kong Open because of injury. The athlete shared that she has not fully recovered from a foot injury that prevented her from participating in four other tournaments in recent weeks.
Raducanu, currently ranked 55 in the world, has not played after she exited midway through her quarter-final match at the Korea Open last month. She has struggled with injuries since winning her only Grand Slam title in 2021, and she spent the majority of the last season recovering from her ankle and wrist surgeries.
She declared that she recently sprained ligaments in her foot, which stopped her from joining the WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan, as well as in Ningbo and Guangzhou.
The athlete said: “I’m sorry to say that I will not be able to play in Hong Kong next week. Whilst my foot is making good progress, I need a little more time before I am match fit. I hope to be able to come back and play this tournament in the future.”
However, she is preparing to be fit and ready for the Billie Jean King Cup finals, where Britain will face Germany in the first round on November 15.
She added: “In the meantime, I am doing what I can to be ready for BJKC.”
