Emma Raducanu has left fans wondering when she will be returning to the game as she continues to drop hints but fails to offer a concrete return date.
The 2021 US Open champion underwent a string of surgeries to correct multiple injuries and put an end to her 2023 season before it really got off the ground.
Raducanu cancelled an appearance at an exhibition event in December and is yet to add her name to any of the events that precede the Australian Open in Melbourne which starts in the third week of the calendar.
The season starts with the team event, the United Cup, as well as the Brisbane International and Auckland Classic for the WTA Tour. In the second week of the season, the WTA hosts the 250-level Hobart International and the WTA 500 Adelaide International.
Raducanu has been training in relative secret at LTA facilities, with sources within British tennis suggesting she is playing her cards a lot close to her chest these days.
Raducanu has made a few appearances on the Tennis Channel’s Warm and Fuzzy programme.
She has admitted that while she doesn’t always like training, she is desperate to play tennis again.
“It’s nice to play tennis. I love competition and I like playing. It sometimes happens that I decide not to train one day, but my motivation is what stimulates me to want to play. I think: II don’t want to train tomorrow, but I directly want to play a match, and it has always worked,” she explained in her chat with comedian Michael Kosta.
Raducanu was scheduled to compete with Daria Kasatkina and Wang Xinyu, a young Chinese competitor, in the two-day tournament on December 2 and 3.
Raducanu underwent surgery on her ankle and wrists in May, thus this would have been her first time out on court since April.
She has posted the occassional video detailing her comeback and has opened up on her rehab training programme to Tennis Channel cameras.
Raducanu feels that when it comes to her mentality she is now in the best space she has been since before her breakthrough run to the US Open title.
“Through the whole period, I’ve been doing a lot off court, reading a lot and watching some tennis. Mentally, I feel like I’m in a better place to compete now than I ever have been before since the US Open,” she told Amazon Prime.
“I just really wanted to expand what I do off the court because obviously when you’re playing you have little to no time to do anything. So, it was nice to have some time to learn new skills and do things I’d never done or tried before. At the end of the day, I’m itching to get back on court.
“I’m hoping to get back on board for next season. I know it’s going to be difficult when you haven’t competed for a long time, like almost a year. It’s going to probably take me some tournaments to get up to speed. But, once I do, I think I’m in a better headspace to compete now.”