Emma Raducanu is planning to return to action in 2024 however, the Brit may not be back as quickly as her fans expected.
The US Open champion underwent wrist and ankle surgery earlier this year and has not participated in any competitive match since April. Raducanu has been keeping her fans updated with regular updates about her recovery via her Instagram account. She is currently in LTA’s National Tennis Centre working hard to get ready for the upcoming season.
The former WTA #10 has signed for an exhibition event next month but has not confirmed a date for her return to the WTA tour. At the Cancun showpiece WTA Finals in Mexico, Amazon Prime analysts Laura Robson and Sam Smith have made some comments about the young Brit’s return while their commentating duties.
Former Britain player, Robson did an interview with the 2021 US Open Champion for Amazon Prime and Smith (also a former Brit professional tennis star) seemed to believe the 20-year-old would not be in position to participate at the Australian Open in January.
While Robson opted to overlook the notion, many of the critics and those who are closely observing the WTA star’s progress feel that Raducanu who has undergone surgeries on both her wrists and left ankle will prefer a cautious return over a hasty one and as such will not be available for the opening Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park.
In her recent interview with Amazon Prime, Raducanu offered some insights into her progress.
“The process is so slow and repetitive,” said Raucanu. “Sometimes it’s really hard to not get bored of it and just keep in mind the long-term end goal.
“It was difficult to train after the surgeries, so it was very sedentary in the beginning.
“Through the whole period, I’ve been doing a lot off court, reading a lot and mentally, watching some tennis.
“Mentally, I feel like I’m in a better place to compete now than I ever have been before since the US Open.
“It’s the best feeling because after just being in the gym or the rehab room, it’s really nice to go back on court and that’s when you really realize how much you missed it. It makes the off-court exercises a bit easier to do because you see the reward.
“I know it’s going to be difficult when you haven’t competed for a long time, almost a year. It’ll take me some tournaments to get back up to speed, but once I do, I think I’m in a better headspace to compete now.”
The positive updates from Raducanu suggest how eager she is to return to the matchcourts following a very difficult season and a rocky road to recovery.
Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli believes, Raducanu needs to be cautious when upon return and have realistic targets.
“It’s one thing to do it one time, which is already very difficult, but it is another thing to do it year after year after year,” said the Frenchwoman.
“I was in the top ten for six consecutive years in a row, so people started to know my name. You go from one tournament to another and this is how people follow you.
“If one year you are top ten and the second year you are 100 and the third year you are out of the top 100, then people forget about you.
“It’s all about consistency and once you stop improving, that’s when you can go backwards. It’s all about improving some part of your game, your fitness and you need to look to work more,” added Bartoli.
She continued: “That can be a challenge when you have already achieved so much so young as it is difficult to get yourself going on the practice court.
“I’m not blaming anyone, but if you want to build your profile and to be known by the public, you have to repeat your performance.
“For Emma, it’s all about getting herself healthy again so she can do a full year. Since the US Open, she has had stop and go, stop and go. She plays one tournament and then she is on the sidelines for two months.
“If she gets her body right and has one full year, I feel she can go back to where she was when she was at the top of her game.”