Emma Raducanu’s alarming health update does not bode well ahead of Iga Swiatek showdown
Emma Raducanu issued a worrying health update after her battling French Open 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 over China’s Wang Xinyu, as she booked another showdown with Iga Siwatek.
Raducanu took an injury time-out during the match and revealed in her press conference that she was suffering with illness after calling for the trainer at the end of the first set.
“I woke up and I felt really sick, to be honest,” Raducanu said in her post-match press conference.
“I felt bad from the morning. I was just trying and fighting through that. It was really difficult.
“To have kind of come through that and overcome how I was feeling, I’m really happy.”
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Raducanu will now have a couple of days to recover from the illness, but she looked drained for long periods of the second set before finding her form once again in set three.
Now she is relishing the chance to take on Swiatek again, after admitting she was forced to fight hard to book her place in round two in Paris.
“I was playing Xinyu, who’s a tough opponent – she can take the racket out of your hands.
“I’m really happy to have found a way. The opening rounds are never easy. I haven’t been here in three years, so I think it was just a combination of a lot of things. Happy to have got through at least.
“I can take positives in the fact that a lot of top champions, top players, they’ve saved match points, really struggled, but they’ve given themselves another opportunity in the draw, another match.
“I think that is a big quality that is not necessarily easy to teach, where a shot is easier to kind of work on.
“Character, and heart, and fight, that really came through today. I’m really proud of that.”
On the Swiatek clash, she added: “I think it’s a match for me where I can really test and challenge myself.
“I think exposure to the top players is great for where I’m at for my development.
“It’s a match where I can… go for my shots, because I know if I just push the ball, I’m probably going to get eaten.”
Raducanu was hammered 6-1, 6-0 by Swiatek in their most recent meeting at the Australian Open in January and has lost all four of her meetings against the Polish star.
Raducanu will take on Swiatek after her worst run of form in recent years, with the four-time French Open champion respectful of the Brit.
“Everyone has a different path and different challenges. But for sure she’s a great player,” Swiatek said.
“She has a great forehand. She can use her topspin pretty well. So we played already a couple times. We know each other’s game.
“For sure I’ll need to be intense and focus on myself. For sure, she won the US Open. She can play great tennis. I’ll be ready.”
Raducanu has climbed back into the top 40 of the WTA live rankings after the win against Wang and she could move towards the top 32 and what could be a seeded position at Wimbledon if she finds a way to unsettle Swiatek.
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