Emma Raducanu news: British No 1 overcomes injury as she admits playing in Indian Wells ‘is a bit of a bonus’

WTA Tour

Tennis365
March 11, 2022

Emma Raducanu will take on Caroline Garcia in Indian Wells late on Friday after defying predictions to recover from a leg injury.

The US Open champion suffered the problem in a marathon match in Mexico two-and-a-half weeks ago and feared she would have to miss the BNP Paribas Open, one of the biggest tournaments on the WTA Tour.

“It’s a bit of a bonus for me,” said the 19-year-old on bbc.co.uk. “Basically everyone was like ‘there’s no chance you are playing Indian Wells’.”

And stretchhhhhh@EmmaRaducanu 🙆‍♀️#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/X0jf2QDQLF

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 9, 2022

It is welcome news for Raducanu, who has faced a number of obstacles as she seeks to build on her remarkable New York triumph.

An ill-timed bout of coronavirus disrupted what was her first proper pre-season, and she was hampered by blisters at the Australian Open, losing in the second round.

“It’s all part of it, all these spanners in the works,” she said. “I feel I can take whatever bad luck is thrown at me after all the good fortune I had last year.

“But, yes, it is frustrating because I was hoping to build on it, but I’m sure I’ve got many more chances and tournaments to try and redeem that.”

Andy Murray is also in action on Friday when he takes on Japan’s Taro Daniel for the third time this year while Harriet Dart meets Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and Liam Broady takes on Miomir Kecmanovic.

Emma Raducanu