by As the clay court hurling began to gather momentum at the Madrid Open last April, things were not looking good for Great Britain’s best female tennis player. During her pre-broadcast press conference, Emma Raducanu refused to engage with the reporters at all. She was short and abrupt, pushing away questions with as much force as her vicious two-handed backhand.
It turned out that she had strength on her mind. The following day she withdrew from the competition due to injury and announced that she would take an indefinite leave of absence from the tour as her injuries recovered. She then underwent three surgeries, one on each arm and one on her left ankle. Her team initially hoped she would be back before the end of the year.
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Raducanu, who was 21 in November, returned to competitive tennis just last week in Auckland. On Tuesday in Melbourne against Shelby Rogers, she will return to grand-slam tennis. So much has happened since winning the US Open in 2021, and the biggest question surrounding her comeback is whether she can finally take steps to properly establish herself on tour.
Injuries are one of the hardest parts of professional sports, and they prevent the fastest movers in the world and take them far from their craft. Recovery involves difficult recovery days and requires enormous patience as they register very gradual improvements. After her operations, Raducanu could hardly move for two weeks and after first returning to the court, she suffered a major setback.
“I had two wrists and an ankle in a very close succession so that I could have as much free time as possible,” said Raducanu. “Each of two weeks without sweating at all. For a period of time, I had a scooter to get around. I couldn’t, like, text, anything. “
That’s the trouble with tennis though, sometimes long layoffs can sometimes be helpful. Throughout the sport’s recent history there have been countless examples of players taking time off the grind and making the most of their absence.
Sloane Stephens returned to win the 2017 US Open Week after a one-year layoff; the final, glorious chapter of Roger Federer’s career began with his stunning Australian Open title that same year. Most recently, Elina Svitolina returned last year from a rejuvenating maternity leave after initially taking a break from the sport in 2022 due to burns. Many players just need to get off the grueling hamster wheel of professional tennis and its exhaustive travel demands to truly appreciate their sport.
Another player returning to Melbourne this week is two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, who was away for 16 months. Her daughter, Shai, was born in July.
“I’ve taken a lot of breaks over the years. I think for me, I think this one is the one that finally clicked in my head. I think I realized, being an athlete, that time is precious. I accepted that before. If that makes sense. I was young and I felt I could roll back into it whenever I needed to,” said the 26-year-old.
Ajla Tomljanovic, the 2022 Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finalist who is on the road to a comeback from a significant knee injury, says her injury has made her hungrier. “I think it gave me even more,” she said. “I think not realizing it, it probably made me stronger emotionally, because you can’t rehabilitate yourself if you’re not stubborn about going back.”
On the other side of the sport, Raducanu focused on the challenge of her rehabilitation but also enjoyed her life outside the court. “It puts things into perspective. The feeling that you can’t move your body, I like to walk to the kitchen to get a snack, for example, I couldn’t do it. And you miss it. You don’t really understand until you go through it yourself, no matter how many different athletes say: ‘Be grateful, respect being healthy.’ Of course it’s nice to hear, it’s nice to say, but I think until you experience it yourself, it’s different.”
While most players have the advantage of gradually excelling and getting used to their increasing success step by step, Raducanu changed everything overnight. By Madrid last year, her body had fallen apart and her sponsorship deals, coaching deals and form were constantly under scrutiny. On the court she played tense, defensive and error-ridden tennis. For now, though, she seems to be in a much better headspace.
“I feel much lighter now than I did in a long time after the US Open,” Raducanu said. “I feel like I’m not playing with a backpack of rocks. I feel quite light and happy.”
Despite the questions about her fitness, Raducanu is training and on Friday she enjoyed two sessions with Britain’s top two players. “When I met her today, I watched her games last week, I think it’s incredible what she’s doing. I mean, to come back to that level already, it’s inspiring,” said British No.1 Katie Boulter.
Hours later, Raducanu trained with No. 2, Jodie Burrage, a regular training partner at the National Tennis Centre, who had similar feedback. “She was absolutely on top of the ball,” Burrage said. “She was right to it.”
During Raducanu’s short career, her rapid turnover of coaches has attracted a lot of attention – she is joined in Australia by Nick Cavaday, who has worked with her since he was 10 for two years – but can her body hold up? with the physical toll of the profession. Tennis is a much more prominent theme right now in the context of her career.
Since joining the tour in 2021 she has had very few weeks without a physical problem before or during a tournament. Even as a junior, Raducanu could not handle the physical load without injuries, and those problems continued throughout her professional career. Looking back, her US Open run is even more remarkable, not because she was the first player ever to win a grand slam tournament from the qualifying draw, but because her body managed to stand up for the toughest three weeks of her life.
Before her first round match against Rogers, Raducanu was asked how she defines success at this point in her career. Instead of recognizing a specific achievement or title, she was clear. She just needs to stay healthy.
“I think I’ll be successful in the long term, for the rest of the year, to play a full season, to be healthy throughout, to be able to train consistent weeks,” she said. “I know my level is there, I just have to keep working on it to make it more consistent. I think that will come with time in the gym, time on the court, being able to play on the calendar, not thinking about: ‘Am I going to have to pull out of this one, is that going to hurt …?’”
Then she shrugged. “I think my level, to be honest, is too good not to come through if I put consistent work together.”
