Emma Raducanu processed her loss in the second round of the French Open last month with remarkable optimism. A part of Raducanu seemed relieved to have completed a tournament without injury five months into a season marred by multiple injuries and doubts she would even make it to Paris. “It’s a positive that I’m leaving this match feeling pretty good physically,” she said.
It did not last long. In her first match back on home soil a week later, on Tuesday, Raducanu was forced to withdraw from the Rothesay Open Nottingham due to a side injury suffered during her first-round match against Viktorija Golubic.
The news is less catastrophic than it could have been. Raducanu has, as expected, withdrawn from the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham the following week, but it appears that she will be healthy enough to resume her grass season in Eastbourne the week after that, followed by Wimbledon. It is, however, yet another nagging injury that keeps her off the court and away from her goal of improvement; her list of ailments over the past nine months is depressing. It is common for young athletes to experience physical difficulties as their bodies adapt to the rigors of professional sport, and this is especially true in tennis due to the increased travel and adaptability to changing surfaces, conditions, balls, and opponents each week.
Since Raducanu’s injury propensity predates her professional career, it appears she was always going to have to deal with this issue. Her junior career was repeatedly derailed. She stated at Wimbledon the previous year, “I had never competed in so many events throughout the years for too numerous reasons, including injuries, school, and niggling injuries.”
In four of the 19 lower-level professional events she participated in before 2021, Raducanu withdrew. These hurdles are exacerbated by her lack of expertise at any level; she has only played consecutive events three times in 19 tournaments.
Raducanu has been open about her lack of expertise and how she is learning on the job during the past three months. However, this makes her change of heart regarding her separation from Torben Beltz notable. In her quest for a new coach after the previous year, she aimed to find an experienced someone who could assist her through the following steps of her career. This is lacking in her daily crew, since she continues to rely mostly on several unpaid support staff, including Iain Bates, the LTA’s director of women’s tennis, and Louis Cayer, the LTA’s senior performance adviser, and doubles coach.
Raducanu collaborates with physiotherapists Tom Cornish and Will Herbert, the latter being an LTA physiotherapist who accompanies her to various events. The difficulty for her is discovering what works and sticking with it. These experiments have led her to spend more time in the gym during competitions in recent weeks. If this pattern of injuries persists, it may be necessary to hire a permanent physiotherapist and trainer to accompany her throughout the year.
Such difficulties are not unique to Raducanu. Bianca Andreescu, also a teenage US Open champion, managed to cram a US Open championship and two WTA 1000 victories in between two long-term injuries, and she is only now experiencing a stretch of good physical and emotional health on the tour. Last week, Leylah Fernandez appeared to be pulling away from Raducanu, advancing to the quarterfinals of the French Open and threatening an even deeper run.
Fernandez, whom Raducanu defeated in the US Open final, was visibly injured during her three-set loss against Martina Trevisan in the quarterfinals, during which her father repeatedly signaled for her to withdraw. She did not, but on Wednesday she revealed that the foot ailment she was playing through was a fracture, meaning she is now on crutches and facing unemployment. Experience will also teach her how to appropriately manage her body.
“I don’t know her all that well, but people do not give her enough credit. This week in Birmingham, Maria Sakkari, the No. 5 player in the world, remarked of Raducanu: “She has been playing well.
“It is difficult, excluding the US Open. She is 19. It will take time for her and every other young player to adjust to the level of competition on the WTA circuit.
It is hardly strange that Sakkari would advise Raducanu to exercise patience. Sakkari was barely ranked in the top 300 at Raducanu’s age, and after reaching the top 100 at age 21 in 2016, it took her an additional five years to reach the top 10. Sakkari has become one of the most spectacular athletes on both tours by her perseverance, work ethic, and numerous errors from which she has learned.
This is a long-term endeavor for those who wish to create a significant career. Players deserve the opportunity to learn from their decisions, including those that are unsuccessful. Raducanu should reach a stage where she is on the court as often as possible, testing her strength, learning the ropes of professional tennis, and maturing as a player, as opposed to entering each new tournament to avoid injury.
