Emma Raducanu has been making some big changes since the Australian Open.
The Great British star, who won the US Open in 2021, has most recently endured a season laden with injury struggles. As such, 2024 marks a comeback year, and one which she will be hoping to alleviate any and all pressure.
The focus is fitness, and everyone should know that. Anything else is a bonus.
However, there is one thing she has revealed that she is working on.
But what has Raducanu been practising since her matches in Melbourne? We take a closer look…
What did Emma Raducanu say about her game?
With interest always high in her career, given the manner in which she shot to stardom, the pressure too has ramped up as her form has dipped and injuries have hampered her progress.
Few could have predicted the way she burst onto the scene, but in the same breath, no one could have foreseen the struggles that were to follow.
This enforced period out of the game however has clearly left her desperate for more, and now, as she told Sky Sports, she can’t stop practising.
Speaking on the newly-launched Sky Sports Tennis channel, the 21-year-old noted: ‘In the recent months I’ve made a few technical tweaks so, to try and change something technically is actually difficult as well, you start with hand feeds, baskets then drilling then point play then match play, and you kind of assess there.
‘But I actually think I made some tweaks after Australia right before Abu Dhabi and I think seeing them in the first-round match was actually a really good positive for me because I was like ‘Well that’s only like a week of practice’.
‘We worked really hard but to see it come through I was really proud and encouraged by that, and I think now I’m slowly getting there you know.’
One step at a time for Raducanu
Whilst the news that she is working on her technical game is promising, this young starlet must remember to just take things one step at a time.
She has truly flung herself in at the deep end since returning from two wrist surgeries and an ankle surgery, competing in the ASB Classic, the Australian Open, the Abu Dhabi Open and now the Qatar Open.
That is a lot of travelling and a lot of tennis for someone still in the infancy of her comeback to top-level tennis.
Not only that, but she will have seen the immense scrutiny that Andy Murray has come under of late for his poor form as he too battles his fitness issues, despite Tim Henman’s vocal vote of confidence.
Perhaps she might be wise to take a leaf out of his book and choose wisely which competitions she enters, perhaps even dropping down a level to recapture any confidence that may have been lost.
First and foremost, even before she starts working on new technical skills, she must ensure that her body is ready for it. But, likely boasting a strong group of confidants to guide her, she will be doing everything possible to keep safe.
She must just be careful not to overdo it, no matter how young and fearless she may be.
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