Emma Raducanu suffers another injury blow as Miami Open withdrawal scuppers comeback

By celebrityinfo.online On Mar 20, 2024

- Advertisement -

As she stood basking in the glory of her history-making US Open win at the tender age of 18, it looked as if nothing could stop Emma Raducanu.

Two-and-a-half years on from that night in New York, though, and it turns out something can: injuries. Raducanu, now 21, has just been forced to pull out of this week’s Miami Open, with a lower back issue adding to her long line of injury setbacks since reigning victorious at Flushing Meadows in 2021.

- Advertisement -

The Toronto-born Brit had been given a wild card and was due to face China’s Wang Xiyu on Tuesday in a bid to keep up her promising form after making her long-awaited return at the Australian Open in January and recently reaching the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Raducanu lost 6-3, 7-5 to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus but her performance in the tightly-fought contest earned plaudits and demonstrated her enormous potential as she continues on her comeback trail. The youngster, already an MBE, was forced to spend the second half of 2023 recovering from surgery on her ankle and wrists which kept her sidelined from May.

But even prior to then, Raducanu didn’t have it easy. Physical problems first blighted her WTA career at Wimbledon in 2021, just as she was rising to stardom. Having reached the fourth round against Ajla Tomljanovic, Raducanu had breathing difficulties which forced her to withdraw.

A recurring wrist problem then plagued her post-US Open triumph, prompting her to go under the knife last year after having to retire from matches four times in 2022. Raducanu hasn’t made it beyond the second round of a Grand Slam since lifting her first trophy in New York and she’s now ranked 288th in the world, having reached as high as 10 during her peak.

In December, Raducanu revealed the extent of her injury woes which prevented her from doing even the most basic day-to-day tasks. “It was really difficult,” she told Sky Sports. “I couldn’t really go anywhere. I couldn’t go to the supermarket; imagine being that immobile. I think it definitely reignited the fire to get back out there competing and made me appreciate just being healthy.”

Throughout her troubles and subsequent hiatus period, there was constant criticism of her public profile getting in the way of her on-court career, with some accusing her of becoming ‘distracted’ by sponsorship deals and commercial interest. Then-England rugby manager Eddie Jones had said: “The big thing for good young players is distractions.

“There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards. What have you seen her on – the front page of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar or whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes.”

A few months later in a Nike advert, which Raducanu shared on her Instagram page, she was seen playing on a court emblazoned with the words ‘”fluke,” “one hit wonder” and “distracted.” But the critics haven’t gone away and she remains an ambassador for huge companies such as Nike, British Airways, Christian Dior, Evian, HSBC, Porsche, Vodafone and Tiffany, deals which are reported to be worth tens of millions of pounds to her.

Brought up in Bromley, Raducanu was born in Canada to a Romanian father and a Chinese mother, both of whom work in the finance sector. Highly academic, having achieved an A* in maths and an A in economics during her A-Levels at a selective grammar school in Orpington, she can also speak Mandarin and is almost fluent in Romanian.

Still, with all her off-court assets, she insists that her focus is firmly on tennis. With Wimbledon on the horizon, Raducanu says her “ultimate” goal is to become the first female British singles champion at the All England Club since Virginia Wade in 1977.

Wade was the last British woman to win any Grand Slam before Raducanu’s heroics 44 years later. The latter also sees criticism as a “compliment,” adding on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “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’.

“Wimbledon is the dream and always has been growing up. It’s still the ultimate dream to win Wimbledon.”

After what’s set to be a hotly-anticipated return to SW19 this summer, there could more glory at the Paris Olympics with Team GB. However, Raducanu has already admitted that it could come too soon.

“Obviously, the Olympics is such a big thing in sport,” she acknowledgd. “I think I could play another four if I really wanted to, so this one isn’t the immediate rush or pressure, it’s just about getting back on court. I love the Slams but I do want to have the Olympic experience. I’ll just see how it goes, if I even qualify and how it goes from there.”

Raducanu’s conveyor belt of coaches is another talking point in her career, having started out with Nigel Sears, who left shortly after her Wimbledon exit in July 2021. Andrew Richardson guided her to victory in New York that September but two months later, German Torben Beltz was appointed.

- Advertisement -

celebrityinfo.online9787 posts 0 comments

Prev Post

Golf Paige Spiranac is taken by surprise by a fan’s request for advice for his wife

Next Post

Iga Swiatek’s Psychologist Urges Tennis Fans to Be Patient Before Reacting to Aryna Sabalenka’s Turmoil

Leave A Reply