Emma Raducanu gives creditable performance in comeback loss to Ons Jabeur

Emma Raducanu made an encouraging return from a wrist injury as she pushed world number two Ons Jabeur close in the Mubadala exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.

The 20-year-old recovered from a break down to take the first set but dropped the second and fell in a deciding tie-break 5-7 6-3 10-8.

Raducanu was making her first appearance since she had ended her season in early October due to a wrist injury.

Trailing 5-3 in the first set, she reeled off four games in a row to take the opener against the defending champion.

Jabeur responded by breaking Raducanu in the sixth game of the second set and held that advantage to level in 36 minutes and force the tie-break decider.

Again Raducanu held the initiative at 8-6 but Jabeur hit back to take the last four points and retain her title.

Nevertheless it was a positive display from Raducanu who will continue her preparations for next month’s Australian Open in Melbourne.

Speaking after the match, Raducanu joked that she was delighted to get out of the hotel room this time around after testing positive for Covid-19 ahead of the 2021 edition.

“I’m so glad this year I was able to make it out of the hotel room,” she laughed.

“Last year I had a bit of a shocker. Amazing to play here in front of all of you, this is Ons’ house so thank you for having me.”

Raducanu was delighted to run the World No 2 so close as she returns from a wrist injury that cut her 2022 season short.

“Yeah I’m rather pleased,” Raducanu explained. “I had to cut my season short because of a wrist injury so I’ve just been building in the gym, started getting back on court recently in last two weeks, so happy to be making some progressions and looking forward to 2023.”

Jabeur was delighted to get the victory in front of a crowd, largely comprised of arab fans and hopes that she will continue to be a leading light in the game.

“Emma did not make it easy for me,” Jabeur commented after her win over the 2021 US Open champion.

“She’s still younger than me so take it easy please, I’m old. I can’t really express how happy I am to see a lot of Tunisians following me, not just from Tunisia but from the rest of the Arab world.”

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