Emma Raducanu has arrived in Auckland and she has held her first practice session.
On Christmas, Raducanu took to Instagram to share that she was preparing to fly to New Zealand. Following a long flight, Raducanu safely touched down in Auckland and is doing her final preparations for the start of the 2024 season.
The Auckland event is kicking off Monday so Raducanu still has a couple of days to prepare for the start of the tournament. Considering that Raducanu is coming off surgery and a long injury break, there is no doubt that she wants to be prepared and ready as well as possible so she avoids potential setbacks.
Raducanu set for her second Auckland appearance
After debuting in Auckland at the start of 2023, Raducanu is set to play at the New Zealand event for the second consecutive year. Raducanu injured her ankle in her Auckland debut and she wasn’t particularly pleased about it but still decided to make her post-surgery return in New Zealand.
“We kept in touch with Emma throughout the year. She decided to go for surgery in April, after Stuttgart and it was going to be a long process for her,” Auckland tournament director Nicolas Lamperin said.
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“When we touched base in early July, we didn’t have much of an update, because it was still in the early stage. But we kept the dialogue going and said we know how it works, players who’ve been away from the Tour get a protected ranking.
“However, the number of tournaments they can do with their protected ranking is limited, so whenever they can get wildcards on top of their protected ranking it gives them longer to get back on the Tour. That’s something which really helped the discussion.
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“She was obviously in no rush, she wanted to make sure she was fully healthy and ready to come back. She loves this time of year. She had fun in New Zealand and despite the fact she had to retire this year, she was happy to come back.”
