Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Italian Open because of a post-viral illness. This has kept her off the WTA Tour for two months. The British number one had been practising in Rome since Saturday and spoke to the media just 30 minutes before formally pulling out.
According to the WTA rulebook, players have to fulfil media duties on site even if they withdraw. They can be fined if they fail to do so. There was no clear indication Raducanu was about to abandon her comeback, although she did say she wants to return when “100% ready”.
Raducanu’s Condition and Preparation
Raducanu said she felt “really good right now in terms of where I am headed”. She added that she had put a lot of good work in the last three weeks, but it’s relatively early on in her return. She said she had six weeks almost of doing nothing just trying to recover from the virus, and it takes a lot out of you physically.
Raducanu stated, “I’m feeling in a better place – not 100% – and I feel like I have got a great purpose and a way about how I am approaching things right now.”
Raducanu last played a match in Indian Wells on 8 March. She has since missed the Miami Open and clay-court events in Linz and Madrid because of her post-viral symptoms.
However, the 23-year-old has been practising in recent weeks at the National Tennis Centre in London and at the Ferrer Academy near Benidorm.
She had been accompanied in Rome by Jane O’Donoghue, a friend and former LTA national coach, and physio Emma Stewart. Stewart was with Raducanu during her interviews.
Focus on Clay and Future Tournaments
Raducanu said that coming on to the clay courts is much more physically demanding than potentially other surfaces. She wants to come back 100% ready. She said she has been building her way up slowly and looking forward to when she gets out there.
She will not be getting out there in Rome this week.
Raducanu has one last chance to play a WTA event before the French Open in either Strasbourg or Rabat in two weeks’ time.
- Raducanu last played on March 8.
- She has withdrawn from the Italian Open.
- She wants to return when she is 100% ready.
If she misses the entire clay swing, then Raducanu will have been absent for three months by the time the grass-court season begins.
Rankings and Coaching Reunion
Even if Raducanu is fit to compete at Roland Garros, which begins on 24 May, she will do so as an unseeded player.
The 2021 US Open champion is currently 30 in the world rankings but only 32 players are seeded. She will drop several places now she is no longer able to defend the points she earned from a fourth-round run in Rome last year.
It was while practising at the Ferrer Academy in Spain that Raducanu linked up again with Andrew Richardson. Richardson coached her to her improbable US Open triumph in 2021, and is now the tennis director there.
Raducanu said they stayed in touch and they stay on good terms. She added that he’s someone she’s known since she was 10 years old and she really wanted to get on the European clay.
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