Emma Raducanu kickstarted her clay court season will promise, but a lack of fitness and inability to adapt to the conditions once again left her breathless and unable to compete.
The Madrid Open marked a disappointing early exit, but success in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers against France alongside a quarter-final in Stuttgart showcased her promise.
However, without a wild card entry into Roland Garros, and with Raducanu having pulled out of Roland Garros qualifying, it feels like that promise has fizzled out.
She still craves time on court ahead of an important few months, however she already seems to have her sights set on another competition later in the year.
Emma Raducanu looks ahead to Wimbledon
Speaking to The Times, Emma Raducanu would chat about everything from tennis to her upbringing.
The younger superstar has been a household name ever since her shock Grand Slam win in New York, and has capitalised on that fame brilliantly with innumerable brand deals in the years that have followed.
However, her efforts on the court have been limited, and as such she simply cannot wait to strut her stuff once again on the hallowed grass courts.
Especially after a torrid Madrid Open, in which Raducanu complained of exhaustion which saw her comfortably beaten by María Lourdes Carlé.
She would note: ‘I have always loved Wimbledon. My first junior big result was making the quarters there at 15. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to play there, so it feels pretty amazing and even better as ‘Emma’ because the support is insane. I love performing and playing in front of people, which is weird because I am naturally introverted.’
A full-fit Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon at last
Ever since she shot to fame in 2021, winning the US Open against all the odds, things were only ever bound to go down for the 21-year-old.
After all, she had set herself the most impossibly high standards, and could never have feasibly fulfilled them.
The immense scrutiny she received from the media will not have helped her in that task, and then things went from bad to worse when she suffered a string of injuries that saw her have to get surgery on both wrists and her ankle.
However, that came before her 2022 exit at the hands of Caroline Garcia, a tough opponent. Her task was made no easier given the side strain she suffered in the build-up which once again threw her participation into doubt.
She would miss 2023’s edition of the tournament, won by the unseeded Markéta Vondroušová, through those aforementioned surgeries.
But, having made her comeback this year and enjoyed some truly impressive results, it seems like we will finally get the true, unimpaired version of Raducanu.
She is still not at her best, and fans should not expect the world from her, but the one-time Grand Slam champion has every chance of enjoying a fine run to make herself and her country proud ahead of what hopes to be a bright future uninterrupted by further setbacks.
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