British star reveals Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter talks as she makes brutally honest confession
Battling back from a serious injury is a daunting prospect for any athlete and British star Jodie Burrage admits she is heading into 2025 unsure if she will ever recapture her best form.
Burrage, who was ranked as the British No 2 and achieved a career-high WTA ranking earlier this year, recalls that she felt “something pop” in her left wrist in her first practice session at the San Diego Open.
Scans confirmed a torn ligament before Burrage then suffered an ankle injury while training with her close friend Katie Boulter in May.
That second injury ensured Burrage missed Wimbledon and the US Open, but she is looking forward to 2025 with real optimism after finishing her season with a big win on the ITF World Tennis Tour as she lifted the W100 title in Dubai earlier this month.
Now Burrage, who is an ambassador for the clothing brand Original Penguin, has conceded she doesn’t know if she will ever recapture the form that fired her into the top 100 of the WTA Rankings.
“The biggest thing for me is I didn’t know if I was ever going to get back to where I was. I still don’t know if I can do that and you never know if that consistency will come again,” Burrage told Tennis365.
“I was at my career high when the two injuries happened and you are sat there for six months seeing the ranking you have worked all your life for just go down, down and down and you can’t do anything about it. It’s not a very nice feeling.
“The positive is this year I now have six months with no ranking points to defend so that will be a nice feeling going on court knowing it’s all gains.”
Burrage confirmed she spoke to fellow Brits Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter about her injury concerns, with both players living through some challenging fitness concerns over the last couple of years.
“I am close to Boults (Boulter) and we have obviously spoken about the injuries she’s had and it was good to talk to Emma as well about the wrist problems she had.
“You want to make sure you make the right decisions when you have an injury and get the right treatments as quickly as possible.”
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Boulter’s presence in the top 30 of the WTA Rankings is a huge source of inspiration for Burrage as she prepares to play at next month’s Australian Open, using her protected ranking to enter the draw in Melbourne.
“It was an unbelievable year for Boults,” added Burrage.
“Staying inside the top 30, what an unbelievable achievement. I’m good friends with her and I know how she was feeling to be coming back from injury and was in a similar situation to what I’m in now.
“What she’s done has been pretty inspiring and it gives me hope that there is a lot more to come.
“My target for 2025 is to get back into the top 100 and to stay fit, obviously.
“My protected ranking will get me into a few big tournaments and that will. Give me a big chance and after the last few weeks, I’ve got a lot of confidence back.
“I believe I can beat players in the top 100 and around 150 again now and I feel like I deserve to be there again now. I have 130 points coming off my total in February and after that, I’m going to have a great six months.”
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