Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open preparation derailed as she’s forced to withdraw from another tournament
EMMA RADUCANU has suffered a back injury before the start of next month’s Australian Open.
The Brit, 22, is not fully fit to appear in a season-opening event in Auckland, which has started this week.
The former US Open champion had been due to face American Robin Montgomery in the Last 32 in New Zealand on Tuesday but withdrew on the morning of her match.
Though she has been able to train recently, her camp say her back has not eased up as much as she would have liked after travelling Down Under – and she will now head straight to Melbourne.
It means she will enter the first Slam of 2025 without playing in a WTA tournament since late September.
Raducanu said: “I tried my best to be ready.
“I love Auckland and the fans here but unfortunately picked up a back niggle and won’t be ready in time.”
Raducanu, the world No56, has had a complicated history with the Kiwi event as she retired hurt in January 2023.
Tournament bosses there were forced to defend the conditions of their indoor courts almost two years ago.
Raducanu blasted the “slippery” substitute surfaces as she rolled her left ankle and left the event in tears.
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In November, Raducanu celebrated her 22nd birthday while being confined to a hotel.
The ace was forced to stay at her hotel in Spain due to the heavy flooding in the Costa del Sol.
She has also recently admitted that her tennis has been impacted by off-field commercial activities.
Brands such as British Airways, Dior, HSBC, Porsche, Tiffany & Co and Vodafone chucked enormous amounts of cash in her direction after winning the US Open.
But in return, they all wanted her time in front of the cameras, so they could place her image on billboards and TV ads.
Will Raducanu win another Grand Slam?
By Joshua Jones
Raducanu was hailed as the new queen of British tennis after her US Open triumph, the poster girl – and some of the biggest brands in the world wasted no time in snapping her up with lucrative endorsements.
But that fairytale fortnight in New York in 2021 feels a long time ago and the mood around Raducanu is now rather underwhelming.
She has been plagued by injuries ever since as her body struggles to get used to the rigours of professional tennis.
There remains, though, one question on everyone’s lips, from casual tennis fans, to expert pundits to the accountants at Dior, Tiffany and Porsche…
Will Emma Raducanu win another Grand Slam?
Raducanu has already achieved more in her tennis career than anyone could have expected from her, she gave British tennis fans the most fantastic scenes in 2021 and she set herself up for life financially by tapping into the unignorable opportunities presented.
But if she is to win again then 2025 is absolutely critical.
She has reached a crux point in her career and the decisions she makes over the next 12 months may well determine how the rest of it plays out.
She has shown she is a form player who feeds off rhythm and performs best with recent victories under her belt, epitomised in 2021.
However, for all this to happen, Raducanu must want it, must have that fire and hunger.
She can definitely win again and we’d all love to see it.
Read the full story on Raducanu’s hopes of another Grand Slam success.