British No. 1 Emma Raducanu has crashed out of the Australian Open in the second round, revealing she almost skipped the tournament entirely due to a pre-season foot injury that left her unable to properly practice.
The 2021 US Open champion lost in straight sets to world No. 55 Anastasia Potapova, 7-6, 6-2. The No. 28 seed disclosed after the match that minor bone bruising in her right foot had severely disrupted her preparation, limiting her to gym sessions and static hitting before arriving in Australia at the start of January.
Speaking to media after her second-round exit, Raducanu described her tournament entry as a "steep ramp-up." She explained: "I would say January 1 when I came out here, I hadn't moved, I hadn't even done a two-cross, one-line drill. I hadn't moved from my half of the court. So if you would have told me I would have played, you know, four matches, five matches in Australia regardless of how they went, I think from a physical perspective, it would have been, you know, like, pretty surprising."
She admitted the lack of match practice made competing particularly challenging. "I think with each one I did get better, except today, but I think having to learn and having to get the feel through matches is something that's really difficult and not something that I really want to be doing," she explained. "But, I mean, because it's a Grand Slam, you feel like you can't or you don't want to miss out."
No Regrets Despite Struggles
Raducanu remains pragmatic about her performance given the circumstances. "I don't want to give myself too much of a hard time, because I know my preparation going into this tournament," she said. She added: "I kind of have to leave with my head held high because of the matches I've had here. I didn't even know at the beginning if I would be coming to Australia, so it's a positive in that sense."
The world No. 29 plans to have her foot rechecked now the tournament has ended. "I've been managing it each day. It's not 100 per cent, but I've made peace with that," she explained. "It will be good to kind of get everything rechecked once this is - well, now it's over - and just see how it is and whether I need to offload it a little bit or not."
Despite the injury concerns, Raducanu noted physical improvement. "Physically, I think I've actually improved in the last few weeks, even if I've been playing more and my load has gone up, which is a positive," she said. "Considering how it was going at the end of last year, I really didn't know if I was going to come to Australia. So to be feeling this way after five matches physically, it's a positive."
Searching for Identity
The British star plans to take a break before reassessing her game and rediscovering her on-court "identity." She will not rush back to practice immediately. "I think I'm going to take a few days, get back, get back home, and try and just re-evaluate my game a bit," Raducanu explained.
She wants to return to the aggressive style that characterized her younger years. "At the end of the day, I just want to hit the ball, like, to the corners and hard. I feel like I'm doing all this variety, and it's not, like, doing what I want it to do," the champion said. "I need to just work on, you know, playing in a way more similar to how I was playing when I was younger."
Raducanu elaborated: "I always just changed direction, took the ball early, and went for it. I think I do have the ability to do many things on the court, but I feel like as I'm learning all those skills, it's like I need to stick to my guns a bit as well and work on that. For me, it's pretty simple."
Looking ahead, she plans to compete at the WTA 250 event in Cluj in early February. "Right now, I'm signed up to play in Cluj, so hopefully I make it there. That will be good to return to my dad's home country. I haven't been back in a few years, so that will be a nice opportunity if I get it."
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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