Emma Raducanu suffers injury scare before Wimbledon as Queen’s prep takes hit | Tennis | Sport
Emma Raducanu has revealed that she suffered another injury setback ahead of her Queen’s campaign. The world No. 41 is starting her grass swing on home soil but hasn’t been able to get as much time on the surface as she would have liked after a back issue resurfaced following the French Open.
Raducanu had been dealing with back spasms in Strasbourg last month and said she wasn’t feeling 100 per cent going into Roland Garros. She still reached the second round there, but after returning home, her grass preparations were interrupted. The 22-year-old has only just started playing points in practice again, though she’s raring to go at the Queen’s Club, where she has also entered the doubles draw with Katie Boulter.
Ahead of the WTA 500 at Queen’s, Raducanu explained: “I got back, like, end of last week, and then I had two days off after I finished in Paris and then got straight back on the court.
“Had a small interruption with a bit of a back spasm again, so that was a bit annoying. So that kind of hindered my grass prep, but the last few days I’ve managed to get on the grass and kind of just begin to try and find my feet.”
Raducanu still has a packed schedule for the grass swing and will also play in Berlin and Eastbourne before Wimbledon. For now, she is happy to manage the back issue.
“I can’t really predict the future, how it’s going to be, I know I’ve been managing my back for the last few weeks now, and it’s something that comes and goes,” she continued.
“But, I mean, overall, I just have to manage what I can take care of and if these things happen, then I just need to deal with it and just keep doing the right things.
“It can be frustrating. I think when I was playing in Strasbourg in my second round match, it definitely hindered me, and first round in Paris, but I got through.
“And I think that just having to manage it, knowing that it keeps coming back, but I try not to let it get to me because I think I have a pretty good feel overall of when it happens, what to do and how to manage it. It does take a few days out, but all I can do is kind of deal with what’s in front of me.”
Raducanu will open her singles campaign at Queen’s against a qualifier. If she makes it to the second round, she’ll face either reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova or Rebecca Sramkova.
But she doesn’t have high expectations after her back issue flared up again.
She added: “My expectations, truthfully, are pretty low because as I said, I played points for the first time today.
“I’ve had maybe like, two, three days on the grass court, so it’s not been much. But I just have to take it as it goes. I know that I’m doing what I can and I’ve dealt with everything as best as I can.”
