“I’m cherishing every moment,” Emma Raducanu eases past Ena Shibahara to get first grass court win since 2022

As a comparison, Raducanu recalled her experience with the French crowd when she played against a French opponent.

“I’m cherishing every moment,” Emma Raducanu eases past Ena Shibahara to get first grass court win since 2022

Emma Raducanu in Nottingham (Via Imago)

Emma Raducanu wasted no time in Nottingham, taking out Japan’s Ena Shibahara 6-1,6-4 in the first round of the ongoing WTA 250 event there. This is her first tournament after Madrid this year, having skipped the French Open as her ranking was not high enough to earn a main draw spot. 

The Brit chose to use the extra time to improve her fitness and prepare herself to make a strong return, which she did yesterday at home. She had not played in her home country, Great Britain, since Wimbledon in 2022.

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Due to injury concerns, she missed several tournaments last year, including Nottingham and Wimbledon. Speaking to the English crowd on Tuesday, she expressed her gratitude about playing in front of them again after a long time. 

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It’s amazing to be playing on home turf. It’s been so long since I last really played in the UK. I played in France earlier this year. Against the French it was very loud but the other way. So to come here and feel like everyone is really behind me is really nice. I’m cherishing every moment of that too.
Emma Raducanu said in the on-court interview

Raducanu recalled her experience with the French crowd when she played against a French opponent. She said they were enthusiastically supporting her opponent then, and it was a good change to have a home crowd supporting her like that.

Raducanu feels she’s injury-free as she makes a strong return at home

Following her short hiatus, Raducanu has returned as if she had never left. She is playing on the lawns of Nottingham this week and has won her first round with relative ease, setting up a meeting against Ukraine’s Daria Snigur in the second round. After two injury-ridden years, she feels she is finally back to complete fitness and recalls the time when she was on mobility chairs, crutches, and casts.

Emma Raducanu (Via Imago/X)
Body-wise, I feel really healthy now. I feel really strong. I’ve done amazing work with my trainer over the last few months since surgery. I’m in a really fit place. I’m healthy and just looking forward to starting playing.
Emma Raducanu said via Nottingham Press

After all the setbacks, she aims to make a deep run now in Wimbledon, where her career took off in 2021. She was able to make it to the fourth round of the tournament and later on at the US Open bagged the title, becoming the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a major singles title.

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