‘My team didn’t want me to even go out there,’ Emma Raducanu reveals she played Australian Open 2022 with plenty of pain and discomfort
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Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu bowed out of the Australian Open 2022, after falling to Danka Kovinic in three sets. The Briton was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 at the Margaret Court Arena on Thursday evening. Seeded 17th at the Australian Open, Raducanu came in with a lot of hopes, given that she is the reigning US Open champion.
Emma Raducanu revealed that her team suggested her not to compete at Australian Open 2022, given that she had just recovered from covid-19 in December and was facing issues with plenty of blisters. However, the youngster did not give up and decided to give it a shot.
Emma Raducanu stated that she has had blisters in the past before, but they were not as painful and deep as they are now. Despite the loss in the second round, Emma Raducanu remains upbeat regarding the fact that she atleast made it through two matches.
“I have had blisters before but never this bad. It’s quite deep and it’s just in a very awkward position that it’s so difficult to tape. We have tried so many different alternatives, and they all end up falling off or making me have no feel of my racquet, so it’s trying to find that balance,” Raducanu said.
I just left it all out on the court: Emma Raducanu
Despite struggling with painful blisters, Emma Raducanu stated that she gave it her all on court. The Briton’s team wanted her to recover well, and skip the Australian Open this time around. However, she remained optimistic about the blisters getting better soon, but instead they took a turn for the worst.
“Of course, that thought [of retirement] when I was slicing forehands and really struggling, I was, like, you know, ‘Do I?’ But I didn’t want to – some people in my team didn’t want me to even go out there. So I fought so hard just to come out to Australia and play here, and I didn’t want to go out like that. So I just left it all out on the court, yeah, after everything I kind of went through,” Raducanu said in her post match conference.
Emma Raducanu believes that her blisters should getter soon, however, the timing was just unfortunate. She stated that she tapped the blisters during her practice sessions, but it would just harden and dry out, which meant another player would be peeling off.
“My hands got pretty soft. From day one, day two [in Australia], I was getting blisters pop up here and there. This particular one has been with me for about five days, and I have been trying to tape it for every practice, and it would like harden and dry out, but then once I would play again, another layer would just keep ripping off,” the Briton said.
“It ended up being pretty deep. It’s a bit annoying, because I know it’s something that will heal in like a few days, but it’s just unfortunate timing,” she added.
Also Read: Australian Open 2022 Day 5: Order of Play for Friday, 21st January 2022
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Nirmit Mehta
(2425 Articles Published)