Emma Raducanu’s horror run of injuries has continued with the British No.1 in doubt to play at the Australian Open after injuring herself at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The 20-year-old was in tears as the 2021 US Open champion was forced to withdraw mid-match during the New Zealand lead-up tournament.
The Sporting News has all the latest on Raducanu’s status heading into the first Grand Slam of the season.
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Will Emma Raducanu play in the Australian Open in 2023?
Raducanu is in severe doubt for the Australian Open after retiring hurt with the score 6-0 5-7 against Viktoria Kuzmova at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
After the match was moved indoors because of inclement weather, Raducanu slipped on the indoor court and appeared to roll her ankle.
The British star subsequently left the court in tears, lashing out at the playing surface as her injury woes continued.
It was Raducanu’s first tournament since October after her season ended because of a wrist injury.
“It’s difficult to take. I’ve put a lot of physical work in the last few months and I’ve been feeling good and optimistic,” Raducanu said post-match.
“So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle is pretty disappointing, in the first week as well. I thought I was playing some pretty decent tennis.
“The courts are incredibly slick, like very slippery, so to be honest it’s not a surprise that this happened to someone. It’s out of my control and after a very long day of waiting around. But we’ll assess over the next few days and see what the next steps are.”
Was Emma Raducanu set to play in any other lead-up tournaments?
Dependent on her progress at the ASB Classic, Raducanu was a chance to play in the Hobart International from Jan 9-15 – having been marked down as an alternate player for the draw.
However, the world No.78 is likely to spend the week prior to the Australian Open recuperating from her ankle injury.
There is also the possibility Raducanu could play matches at the Kooyong Classic or practice games against fellow competitors.
What injuries has Emma Raducanu had?
Unfortunately for Raducanu and her fans, the tennis sensation has had an immensely frustrating run of problems since winning US Open 2022.
A blister on her finger led to a painful second-round defeat against Danka Kovinic at Australian Open 2022 in Melbourne, and she retired from her first-round match at a WTA event in Guadalajara the following month with a leg issue.
The 11th seed lost the final two sets of her match against Petra Martic at Indian Wells in March while troubled by a stiff back, and she sustained another blister — this time on her right foot —against Marketa Vondrousova as Great Britain lost to the Czech Republic in the Billie Jean King Cup.
Bianca Andreescu — the only other player to have won the US Open on her debut — was supposed to be her opponent at the Italian Open in May, only for the unfortunate Raducanu to be forced out by a back injury.
Emma Raducanu 🇬🇧 thrashes a poor Vika Azarenka 🇧🇾 6-0 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Cincinnati
Fantastic result for Emma who rises to 59th in the WTA Race.
Solid play, nice serving, bit of venom on some shots. Confidence boost pic.twitter.com/noaIgNuDb1
— Chris Goldsmith (@TheTennisTalker) August 17, 2022
That side strain did little for Raducanu’s Wimbledon preparations, although she would still have expected to do better than her straight-sets second-round exit at the hands of Garcia.
Raducanu had appeared to be injury-free and in promising form as she prepares to return to the setting of the most successful two weeks of her early career, although those images showing her discomfort in a practice session did not look encouraging.
Serena Williams is on the verge of retirement but Raducanu’s 6-0, 6-4 win over the tennis legend in Cincinnati less than two weeks before US Open 2022 was a memorable way to warm up for the final Grand Slam of the year.
grateful to have shared the court w you serena 🙏 pic.twitter.com/4hGTPhmsyt
— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) August 17, 2022
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Raducanu then beat another former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, before losing to world number eight Jessica Pegula.
“You’ve made me really aware of my last 12 months,” Raducanu told Martina Navratilova after the 18-time Grand Slam singles winner suggested she had “clicked” again by beating Azarenka, speaking on Amazon Prime.
“You’re going to have a bad year… so for mine to happen after winning the US Open from qualifying, it’s okay and all part of the journey. I’m learning from it.”
After being beaten by Alize Cornet in the first round US Open 2022, Raducanu played a few more tournaments before ending her season in October – prior to the Billie Jean King Cup finals – because of a wrist injury.
When is the Australian Open 2023?
This year’s Australian Open will run from Monday, January 16 until Sunday, January 29.
Officials have confirmed the 2023 draw will take place on Thursday, January 12 (local time) with no time set in stone just yet.
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