Emma Raducanu stages last gasp fitness test as she battles to be fit for Wimbledon
Emma Raducanu has not given up hope of taking part in her first round match at Wimbledon on Monday, with the British No 1 staging what was billed as a ‘late fitness test’ at the All England Club on Sunday.
Onlookers at Wimbledon’s Aorangi Park practice courts suggested the signs were positive for the 2021 US Open champion, who was widely expected to confirm she would pull out of her home Grand Slam after a week of speculation over her fitness.
Raducanu has missed several practice days this week as she is nursing some kind of ankle issue, with her planned press conference on Saturday postponed as speculation mounted suggesting she was due to confirm she was not fit to play.
Yet Raducanu was all smiles on Sunday, as she came through a practice session less than 24 hours after abandoning her latest hit on the grass courts against Russian player Anna Kalinskaya.
Raducanu is due to begin her campaign against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic on Court One at 1pm on Monday, so she does not have too much time to consider her options.
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The fact that she decided to complete her media duties at 3.30pm at Wimbledon was another sign that she is intending to play on Monday, but she did complete her media interviews ahead of the Italian Open last month and told reporters she was excited to play before pulling out of the tournament half an hour later.
Raducanu’s former coach Mark Petchey has opened up on his former charge, as he admits the hype around her following her incredible Grand Slam win in New York nearly five years ago was not well managed.
“Everyone knows that things could have been handled differently – but not by her,” said Petchey, as reported by Sky Sports.
“She was 18. That’s not on her, but there are a lot of adults in the room that clearly will need to look at themselves.
“The lucky thing for her is she won it so young, she had this period to figure stuff out, and she’s now just 23 and has still got a lot of runway ahead in tennis if she decides to use it. Especially on the grass, because there’s no question in my mind this is her best surface.
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“I think she needs to live and have her career from here on in on her terms. You get a zero pointer? Who cares? Don’t play the tournament. Just do what’s going to make you happy.
“Give yourself the chance at the four majors, because I’ll back you against anyone.
“Don’t worry so much about the ranking and worry more about being in the right position to have a run at a tournament every single time you tee it up, because you’re not like everyone and don’t feel like it’s a negative.
“You could have the longest career of all time if you decide to do that. If you keep doing it like everyone else is telling you to do it, and everyone else is doing it, you’re probably going to have a short career. People are going to criticise anyway, whichever way you do it.”
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