Emma Raducanu sets new comeback date after latest injury setback

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Emma Raducanu plays tennis

Emma Raducnau looks set to miss the first Grand Slam event of 2024 after confirming a delay in her comeback plans.

Tennis365 broke the news on November 6 that Raducanu was unlikely to play in a planned comeback exhibition event in Macau at the start of December and that news was confirmed on Monday.

Now there are suggestions that Raducanu will not be playing at the 2024 Australian Open, as she continues to make a slow recovery from wrist and ankle surgeries.

The 2021 US Open champion has not played a competitive match since April, but she has been posting updates on her recovery to her army of fans on Instagram in recent weeks.

It seems her process is a little behind schedule after it was revealed she has pulled out of an event that is being run by her management company next month.

This has led to speculation that she will not try to play at the Australia Open in January, with a comeback in a low key indoor event in February an option ahead of playing at Indian Wells and Miami in March next year.

Sources close to Raducanu have insisted this latest delay in her comeback is not a major crisis for the former British No 1, who has been putting in the groundwork for her recovery at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre in London.

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli spoke about Raducanu’s hopes of a successful comeback in an exclusive interview with Tennis365 earlier this year, as she suggested the Brit needs to add consistency to her talent to rise back to the top.

It’s one thing to do it one time, which is already very difficult, but it is another thing to do it year after year after year,” she added.

“I was in the top ten for six consecutive years in a row, so people started to know my name. You go from one tournament to another and this is how people follow you.

“If one year you are top ten and the second year you are 100 and the third year you are out of the top 100, then people forget about you.

READ MORE: Has Emma Raducanu given a big hint that she will delay her comeback?

“It’s all about consistency and once you stop improving, that’s when you can go backwards. It’s all about improving some part of your game, your fitness and you need to look to work more.

“That can be a challenge when you have already achieved so much so young as it is difficult to get yourself going on the practice court.

“I’m not blaming anyone, but if you want to build your profile and to be known by the public, you have to repeat your performance.

“For Emma, it’s all about getting herself healthy again so she can do a full year. Since the US Open, she has had stop and go, stop and go. She plays one tournament and then she is on the sidelines for two months.

“If she gets her body right and has one full year, I feel she can go back to where she was when she was at the top of her game.”

Raducanu is likely to have no ranking points by the time she returns to action, but she will be able to enter events with a protected ranking of No 103 due to her injury problems.

Emma Raducanu

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