Emma Raducanu has given her biggest hint yet that she is closing in on a return to action with some encouraging posts on Instagram. The 2021 US Open champion has missed most of this season after undergoing surgery on her wrists and ankle, forcing her to sit out the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open as she opted to try and resolve her ongoing injury problems.
She has been training at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre in recent weeks and appears to be stepping up the intensity of her training programme. Images on her Instagram feed have shown her working in the weights room and she posted an image of herself in action with the message: Got the bug to go, miss this.
Raducanu’s return to action is expected to come at an exhibition event in China in December, yet the latest images posted on her social media account confirm she is still wearing supporting bandages on her wrist. “Next season I’ll be back,” Raducanu told BBC London in September. “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.”
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Former British No 1 Laura Robson is backing Raducanu to shine in 2024, as he suggested the player who became one of the most talked about players in tennis has plenty of time to get back to her best. “We know she has got the game to do it. She has the ball striking ability, she is a great mover and a great all-round player and she competes,” Robson told Tennis365 at a Play Your Way To Wimbledon event.
“All you can do is stay as healthy as possible and try to play as many matches as possible to see where you go. “Other players have come back very quickly in this last year. Svtolina has been amazing to watch and then Wozniacki has looked amazing considering she has not played in three and a half years.
“There are lots of players for Emma to look up to as examples of how quickly it can come back and not to get too disheartened if it doesn’t because everyone is on their own journey. “I wouldn’t want to put a date on it or put pressure on her to return at a certain point,” she added.
“As anyone who has had a long-term injury knows, you have a goal in your mind and it is always adjusting. “You might think you are going to be ready to play at a certain date and you pick up a little niggle somewhere else in your body as you have been doing months and months of compensating. “She can’t play a lot of tennis at the moment, but it’s a huge step forward and she seems so happy to be back on court, which is lovely to see. “I’m sure she is gunning to get back out there because having to watch all the tournaments on TV is the hardest part.”
There were some suggestions that Raducanu may have played a role in Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team that will take on Sweden in London next month, but she was not named in the team selected by captain Anne Keothavong. Instead, Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Heather Watson will take on Sweden, which is a blow to Raducanu’s hopes of playing in next summer’s Olympic Games.
The 20-year-old will need to play for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup if she is to have a chance of playing in the Olympics, although she could appeal to the ITF Olympic Committee to ask for an exemption due to her injury issues over the last year.
