Emma Raducanu returns to the ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport
Emma Raducanu returns to the ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport
Ahead of her long awaited comeback to the sport, British star Emma Raducanu says she feels “reborn”.
After more than eight months away from competitive tennis – and three operations – Raducanu will return to action in Auckland, as one of the marquee names at the 2024 women’s ASBClassic. It’s been the longest layoff of her short career, as she recovered from surgeries to both wrists and an ankle, with some hiccups in her rehabilitation.
But there was a silver lining. Raducanu had to deal with an intense spotlight after her stunning triumph at the 2021 US Open as a teenager and stepping away from that glare has been helpful.
Emma Raducanu celebrates winning a match at the 2023 ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport
“I feel reborn in a way,” said Raducanu on Saturday. “I feel fresh. I feel ready, I feel happy, I feel excited. Overall feeling very positive and lighter. For two years after the US Open I felt maybe a bit more weight on my shoulders but now I feel completely fresh.”
Though it wasn’t easy – as she dealt with three plaster casts at one stage – it was also a rare time for self-reflection, after the constant tennis grind since her early teens.
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”It was different,” admitted Raducanu. “It was hard being quite immobilised, because of the surgeries I had, especially hands and foot. [But] it’s been insightful. I got to spend a lot of time thinking and definitely got that hunger back to be on the court competing, training, sweating. You really appreciate the time you have when you are healthy. You don’t fully understand it until you go through it yourself.”
And there have been physical benefits, as Raducanu disclosed she was suffering from wrist problems from the middle of 2022 onwards.
”I was managing it, keeping it under wraps as much as I could but I knew it was kind of inevitable if I wanted to fix the problem but I wanted to keep going through the season,” said Raducanu.
That didn’t work. After her second round exit at the ASB Classic Raducanu only played eight more matches before calling time on her season after a first round loss in Stuttgart in mid-April.
Now the 21-year-old is feeling physically stronger and ready to rebuild her game.
British star Emma Raducanu ahead of 2024 ASB Classic. Dean Purcell/NZH.
”It’s going to be fun, going out there competing again,” said Raducanu. “I’ve been training really well. I’m feeling good about my game, tennis wise is better than I was a year ago today but playing a match is going to be different of course. So getting the feel of match fitness, big points, that might take some time to fall into place.”
Raducanu will always carry the burden of her staggering New York achievement – where she became the first qualifier to win a major in the Open era and later received an MBE, after breaking a British female grand slam drought going back to Virginia Wade in 1977 – but seems better placed to deal with it.
Now ranked 298, after being as high as No 10 in July 2022, she is taking a brick by brick approach to her comeback.
”The biggest goal [for 2024] is being healthy, being injury free,” said Raducanu. “Tennis wise, after the initial getting the feel of matches obviously I want to be more consistent, just improving my tennis level and skill level overall.”
Raducanu has had a cast of coaches since her US Open breakthrough and is travelling with long time mentor Jane O’Donoghue, who was her national coach at youth level. She has also yet to gain a wildcard for the Australian Open but isn’t worried about the prospect of taking the longer route in Melbourne, if necessary.
”Qualifying doesn’t faze me,” said Raducanu. “I’ve done pretty well in qualifying before.”
Before that the priority will be court time in Auckland, where she faces a qualifier in the first round, before a possible match up with Caroline Wozniacki or Elina Svitolina.
She was effusive about her experience here last time – “it’s one of the best venues on tour” – despite the unhappy circumstances of her exit, when she made some disparaging comments about the state of the makeshift indoor courts used after incessant rain.
Raducanu also made a special effort to maximise her buildup this time, spending Christmas Day on the long flight from the northern hemisphere.
”I flew Christmas Eve [from London] and the day that we lost travelling here was Christmas Day,” laughed Raducanu. “So that was good. [But] on British Airways they had Christmas dinner, so I basically had my turkey on the flight.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns.
