She’s back!
Hello and welcome to coverage of Emma Raducanu’s opening match at the Australian Open in Melbourne Park.
It has been a year since her place major tournament clash after requiring operations on both wrists and one ankle.
The road to recovery has been long and arduous but the 2021 US Open champion says she is fit and raring to go.
“Yeah, physically I feel good,” she said. “I did a lot of good work in the off-season. But I think that regardless of how good I may feel on the court on a particular day or in practice, I think to get that level of consistency is going to require more time.
“So, yeah, I’ve been doing the right work, doing it consistently. I just need to keep going like more and more. But, yeah, I feel good on court and in the gym.”
Raducanu, who faces American Shelby Rogers this morning, was asked if the time away has given her a different perspective.
“Yeah, I think because when you realize in my case, for example, I had two wrists and ankle all in very close succession so I could have the minimal time off possible,” she replied. “Each one is two weeks of no sweating at all. For a period of time, I had a scooter to move around. I couldn’t, like, text, anything.
“It just puts things into perspective. The feeling of not being able to move your body, 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 realize until you go through it yourself, no matter how many different athletes say, Be grateful, appreciate being healthy. Like, of course it’s nice to hear, nice to say, but I feel until you actually experience it yourself, it’s different.”
Stay with us for all the build-up, news and latest updates once the match gets underway.