Emma Raducanu says she will leave Melbourne feeling optimistic about her return to action after an eight-month layoff, despite her shock second-round defeat at the Australian Open.
The 21-year-old British player lost in the second round of the Australian Open for the third consecutive year, losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to China’s Wang Ya.
“I’m very positive and very happy with my physical condition,” she said. “I think the wrist issue is what I struggled with coming back because I just had a setback for a couple months, so I wasn’t able to play again until the end of November. Now I feel good. The ankle feels good. I think If I keep my work consistent, I have a good chance. This is obviously just my first time back.”
Raducanu played listless tennis after trailing a set before gradually finding her footing to force a third set. Just as she took the lead, Raducanu said she began to feel uncomfortable on the court, causing her to vomit multiple times between points.
“I think you feel bad now, given what I went through last year, and I wasn’t able to watch the ball very well at some points, but I think it made me a stronger person, given what I went through last year. ,”she says. “There was no way I was quitting. She had to beat me, and she did. She gave it away.”
Raducanu stressed that her body was recovering well after playing two matches in Australia over the past three weeks after suffering so many injuries over the past two seasons. The goal this year is to incorporate a lot of training and competition to improve her game.
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“I feel very positive. I really just want to play the full season. What’s encouraging is that even though I played two back-to-back three-set matches in Auckland, today was a three-set match, both physically and strength-wise. , I didn’t have any random issues. [The vomiting] Just happened throughout the game. I just threw up. It doesn’t matter. It’s not normal, but it’s like a one-off. “
