Emma Raducanu has confirmed that she will do everything in her power to play at Wimbledon, despite managing an injury. The British No1 has been seen in the build-up to the tournament with heavy strapping on her right ankle and shin, and concerns began to grow when she ended her practice session with Anna Kalinskaya early on Saturday. She then cancelled her press conference that had been scheduled later that afternoon, instead speaking to the media on Sunday. She practised once more on Sunday morning - ankle still strapped - but her ball-striking appeared better and she looked more comfortable than she had the day previously.
Raducanu's plan to play
Raducanu is set to open play on Court No1 on Monday, beginning her campaign against the Croatian Antonia Ruzic. “That's the plan right now, to play,” she told reporters on Sunday. “I'm going to do everything with my team in terms of treatment, and that's the current plan.”
Injury history and management
Raducanu explained that she had been managing with her injury since the French Open, where she exited in the first round against Solana Sierra. “I have a lower-leg niggle that I've been dealing with since before Queen's, actually from the back end of the clay court season,” the Briton said. “I've been managing it. I think it's something that I'd say recently has probably, after Queen's maybe, during that week, was a lot of load for me. Five matches after having not competed for a while, I think it was just a lot of load.”
Recent form and Wimbledon prospects
Raducanu, seeded 30th at Wimbledon this summer, reached the final at Queen’s Club, including winning her quarter-final and semi-final on the same day after a rain delay, but she was beaten by lucky loser Donna Vekic in the final. At Wimbledon last year, she was beaten in a third-round thriller by Aryna Sabalenka, and she could get a chance to exact her revenge on the world No1, placed in the same part of the bracket as the four-time Grand Slam champion.
