Emma Raducanu cut short her practice session at Wimbledon on Saturday before cancelling a scheduled press conference, deepening concerns about her fitness ahead of her first-round match. The British number one has been at the centre of another injury scare since she was reportedly seen wearing a protective boot on Wednesday evening.
Practice Session Cut Short
Raducanu did not train at Wimbledon on Thursday or Friday but was down for two hours of hitting on Saturday, first at the All England Club’s Aorangi Park practice courts and then on Court Three with Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya. She took to the court with strapping on her right ankle and lower leg but made it through the first hour and a half without any alarms. However, she was largely hitting from the same position and it was when she began playing points against Kalinskaya that things took a worrying turn.
According to reports, Raducanu struggled on serve and was 4-0 down against the world number 20, while her body language in discussions with coach Andrew Richardson indicated she was far from content. Midway through the next game, Raducanu abruptly called an end to the session 10 minutes before it was due to finish and hugged Kalinskaya before quickly leaving the court.
Press Conference Cancelled
Raducanu had been due to speak at a press conference on Saturday afternoon but 20 minutes after walking off court it was announced she would be speaking on Sunday instead. There must be serious doubt now whether the 23-year-old will even make it onto court for her scheduled first-round match against Croatian Antonia Ruzic at 1pm on Monday.
Injury History
Should she have to pull out, it would be the latest setback in another stop-start season, with Raducanu having missed two-and-a-half months due to a post-viral illness during the spring. Things appeared to have taken a positive turn when, after rehiring Richardson, with whom she won the US Open, as coach, she reached the final at Queen’s Club two weeks ago. But Raducanu has not played a match since and the story once again centres on her physical fragility.
