Emma Raducanu has offered a fitness update after her gruelling third-round exit at the Australian Open.
Having battled back well to claim an emphatic second set, illness seemed to strike early in the crucial third.
Enduring a medical time-out and looking visibly tired, her spirit was immense, and deservedly drew post-match plaudits.
However, the extent of her ailments remained unknown. Until now.
So, will the Great British star be out for long? Was her fatigue serious at all? We take a closer look…
Emma Raducanu offers a big fitness update
Having already highlighted her surprise at the support received, Thursday’s unrelenting loss to Wang Yafan will surely have earned her a few more fans after just the first grand slam of the year.
She will hope to take such momentum into the upcoming tournaments, placing her injury troubles behind her for good.
Having shot to stardom in 2021, the expectations placed on Raducanu have been impossibly high.
But now, she is seeking to dispel any injury worries, as she spoke to the official Australian Open website: ‘I’m very positive, very happy with how my body is … I think if I keep my work consistent, I have a good shot.
‘This is obviously only my first trip back. I think that tidying up some of the areas, tidying up a bit of technique and things, also just getting used to playing matches outdoors, as well, because the conditions today were very windy.
‘I think she handled it a lot better, the wind. She jumbled me. She moon-balled me. She gave me a lot of these scrappy little shots, but it worked.
‘I need to spend more time on tour, spend more time training, and putting good weeks together.’
Emma Raducanu’s admirable return from injury
Such fatigue was unsurprising across what had been a marathon of a match, for a player who had missed so much of 2023 through injury.
Across last year, the 2021 US Open winner endured surgery on both wrists and her ankle, which saw her miss every WTA match from April onwards.
Well, her return in the ASB Classic offered a glimpse of her quality, and Thursday’s battling performance outlined a bright future for the 21-year-old who still has so much to offer the sport.
Shelby Rogers was no slouch in the first round, and overcoming adversity against Wang was outlined through the narrow 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 final score. Neither player will have come out of that one feeling fresh.
But there remains so far to go before Raducanu gets anywhere near her true fitness, and that should excite both her and her fans.
With some sublime backhands and an unflinching attitude even in the face of huge adversity, there were signs of an outstanding player just waiting to be released.
2024 will hopefully be a year of mass progression for the world number 296, as she seeks to get somewhere close to her career-high ranking of tenth.
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