“I was a bit shocked,” Emma Raducanu all set for the 2023 Australian Open as she recovers from the ankle injury suffered in Auckland

The British tennis star had picked up an ankle injury at the ASB Classic but says she has now recovered and is excited for 2023


“I was a bit shocked,” Emma Raducanu all set for the 2023 Australian Open as she recovers from the ankle injury suffered in Auckland

Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu has revealed she has recovered from the ankle injury she picked up when she rolled her ankle during her ASB Classic match in Auckland. She says she “fully trusts” her ankle now and has charted out her goals for the 2023 season. She also addressed the changes she hopes to make from last season.

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Raducanu rolled her left ankle during her match against Viktoria Kuzmova. The injury was bad enough for Raducanu to withdraw from the round of 16 clash. It was her sixth withdrawal since last year. The decision led to a lot of speculation about her availability for the 2023 Australian Open. But Raducanu has worked hard to recover and is now all set to participate in the first Slam of the year.

“I would say I’m definitely in stronger shape. I did a lot of work and I’m very pleased with how it went physically. I started playing tennis pretty late, just because of some ongoing issues I had at the back end of last year, but I think that I’m going to carry on building throughout the year,” Raducanu said.

“So while I was a bit shocked initially [about the ankle] I feel really, really good actually. I think that I’m setting things up really nicely with the way my team is looking at the moment. And I’m just buzzing to start and get going.”

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The 20-year-old initially looked stiff during practice in Melbourne but is moving freely as the Open draws closer. Raducanu has been drawn against German player Tamara Korpatsch in the first round of the Australian Open. The World No.75 is also entering a period of stability in terms of her backroom staff which she hopes will help her onto better results in Grand Slam tournaments.

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Emma Raducanu at Grand Slams

Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu

Raducanu has had a prodigious career so far. She played her first Grand Slam tournament match in 2018, playing qualifiers at the Wimbledon. But she exploded into the world’s consciousness in 2021.

The then 18-year-old entered the US Open through the qualifiers and progressed to the first round. She then dominated every match and reached the final without dropping a set. She defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez, winning the game with a dramatic ace. Raducanu ended up winning the tournament without dropping a set. She ended the year jumping 332 places in the rankings.

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2022 was a challenging year for Raducanu in the Slams. She was knocked out of the first three majors in the second round and the US Open in the first round. Fitness issues and an unstable backroom team contributed to this. However, Raducanu is looking to get back to challenging in the Grand Slam tournaments and is being proactive to make sure she can.

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