Greg Rusedski Explains Why Emma Raducanu Needs Lifestyle Changes to Avoid Injuries: “Roger Federer Used to Train Even During Holidays”

Emma Raducanu hoped for a better run at Wimbledon after her run to the final of the Queen’s Club Championships, where Donna Vekic beat her in straight sets. But the home favorite was forced to withdraw on the eve of the main draw rounds due to a grade-four stress fracture in her lower right leg.

After her successful run at the 2021 US Open, Raducanu has yet to win another title. She, in fact, played her first final since the US Open in this year’s Transylvania Open.

Although she failed to beat Sorana Cirstea, she reached her career’s third final at the Queen’s. After the Queen’s, the 23-year-old was scheduled to play the Nottingham Open, but she ended up withdrawing from it.

Because of her withdrawal, former ATP World No.1 Andy Roddick criticized her, questioning her schedule. Roddick thinks playing continuously has helped Raducanu, but when she takes a long break, it ends up spoiling her rhythm.

And now Greg Rusedski has given his take regarding Raducanu’s injury woes and form issues. The former British No.1 also shares a similar opinion to that of Roddick. During his Off Court with Greg podcast, Rusedski told his compatriot to follow in Roger Federer‘s footsteps.

Also, consistency of team helps, consistency of training. You can’t take long periods of time off. Even when you’re on holiday, you still need to hit balls. You still need to go to the gym. You need to keep it going because stop starting. I remember when Roger Federer was at the peak of his powers, and he was still hitting tennis balls when he went on holiday with his family. That’s what you need to do.

At Wimbledon, Raducanu has made the fourth round twice: in 2021 and 2024. But last year, her run ended in the third round.

And for Emma at Queen’s, the problem was she’s played so many back-to-back matches. So she wasn’t trained for her body to be able to do that. You can say it’s bad luck, but you have to be prepared sometimes to play two matches in a day and maybe back-to-back two matches.

Greg Rusedski added

Raducanu withdrew from the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, where last year she reached the third round of both events. She will be hoping to recover completely before the US Open, the main draw of which starts on August 30.

Greg Rusedski on Novak Djokovic’s 25th Major dream

Stranger things have happened, which is why Greg Rusedski believes Novak Djokovic should continue playing, even though he thinks this Wimbledon was Nole’s last chance to end his title drought. After playing for more than five hours against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals, Djokovic easily lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.

I think [Carlos] Alcaraz being out this Wimbledon was huge for him. I think he was a little bit hurt by the Auger-Aliassime match where he ran out of gas, and Sinner played magnificently in their semi-final. I don’t know if he’s gonna win a 25th Slam now. I think this was possibly his last chance.

Greg Rusedski said on his Off Court with Greg podcast

Although Djokovic was no match for the five-time Grand Slam champion in the semifinals, the Serb knocked out the Italian ace in the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open. Alcaraz then beat him in the final. The Spaniard missed both the French Open and Wimbledon due to his wrist injury.

Djokovic overcame the seven-time Major champion in the 2024 Paris Olympics to win his career’s first gold medal. Since then, he hasn’t yet won a Big Title.

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