TENNIS
Emma Raducanu won’t play tennis again this year
The British star announced that she won’t make her comeback to the courts, as she prefers to fully recover from a year full of injuries.
It’s been a difficult year for Emma Raducanu, who has been struggling with different injuries that have prevented her from playing at her best and ultimately forced her to spend lots of time outside the courts.
Raducanu, who became a star when she won the US Open without losing a set at age 18, suffered a wrist problem early in the year and had to undergo surgery on both hands in May as well as on her ankle.
After that, Raducanu was expected to remain inactive for some months but things played out differently to what she expected and she won’t be playing anymore this year.
Raducanu hopes to get back to her best in 2024
Raducanu, who last played in April against Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart, will take the remaining months of the year off to be able to fully recover and come back at her best.
“Next season I’ll be back,” the young star said to BBC Sport.
“This season all the slams were finished so it was difficult to watch them go by but I was trying to stay in my lane as much as possible and keep focused on my recovery”, she added.
Since her issues began, Raducanu has been very criticized, with many saying she didn’t know how to manage her US Open success and the fact she couldn’t find consistency in her game after repeatedly changing coaches.
However, the player has taken all that attention as a compliment and a motivation to look forward to the future, where she hopes to accomplish her dream of winning Wimbledon.
“The fact they are still talking about me even though I’m not at these events is just a compliment. Someone told me, ‘Worry when they are not talking about you”, she stated.
“Wimbledon is the dream and always has been growing up. It’s still the ultimate dream to win Wimbledon”, Raducanu concluded.
The former Top 10 player hasn’t made it past the second round of a Grand Slam event since the 2021 final in New York and will be looking to have a long run in the first major of the 2024 calendar, the Australian Open.