Emma Raducanu fitness rumours swirl as latest published comments don’t answer questions

Rumours are swirling around where Emma Raducanu’s fitness levels are heading into the 2026 season, but comments emerging in the UK media doing little to clear up whether she will be fit to make a flying start to 2026.

The 2021 US Open champion was forced to end this year’s campaign early due to a foot problem and issues when she was playing on the Asian swing of the WTA Tour.

There was an expectation that the 23-year-old would spend the final weeks of this year getting ready for the new season, with an appearance alongside Jack Draper in what could be a powerful Great Britain team at the United Cup event in early January.

However, the tennis grapevine has been buzzing with rumours that both Draper and Raducanu are battling to be fit for the start of the new season.

Draper was forced to pull out of the UTS Grand Final and an exhibition event next week as he continues to recover from the arm problem that has kept him off court since the US Open back in August.

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There have been no fitness updates from Draper since confirming his UTS absence and he will need to make a decision imminently on whether he will travel to Australia.

Draper and Raducanu have been working on their fitness at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre in London in recent weeks, but there have been suggestions that she is not fully fit ahead of her trip to Australia.

There has been no footage of Raducanu hitting balls on her Instagram account in recent weeks, with comments emerging on a BBC radio show coming from an interview she staged with the British media at the start of this month.

“I feel quite content with how things are going on and off the court. I’m in a pretty good place,” said Raducanu, as she spoke to the media at the National Tennis Centre in London.

“I just think, despite any challenges I have been facing with the foot or the health at the end of the season, I feel in a good place, and I’m building back in the gym, to start with.

“And I’m feeling pretty relaxed ahead of next year, which is a good place to be. And I’m just proud of the season that I put in this year and the progress I have made.

“I would say that next year, I hope to play less than I did this year. But I think also just incorporating into my warm-ups, fitness, so it’s not necessarily just my fitness sessions are like separate.

“You just have to try and drip feed as much as you can in for the overall health of your body, little and often, I think is the biggest thing that’s helped.

“And most of all, I think I found a lot more peace with myself and I’m a lot happier with how I’m approaching my tennis and how I’m approaching the team that I have and just what I’m doing and the environment that I have.

“I think that’s the most special thing because it takes so much work and so many days to get to where we want to be. And just enjoying each day and being able to look at it in a pretty healthy perspective is so important.”

If those comments were made this week, they would have ended the doubts over Raducanu’s hopes of playing at the United Cup, but a decision on whether she will board the long flight to Australia needs to be made soon.

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