Emma Raducanu reveals she was ‘sleeping’ minutes before her Indian Wells return
Emma Raducanu has revealed that she was feeling so unwell yesterday that she was ‘sleeping’ minutes before being called to her match with Danka Kovinic.
Raducanu made a winning return to the WTA tour with a, 6-2 6-3, victory over Danka Kovinic in the first round of Indian Wells, but was clearly under the weather.
starting in IW👀🎩➡️ pic.twitter.com/4UY3bEtN18
— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) March 10, 2023
The British No.1 has not played since the Australian Open and has recently been struggling with tonsillitis, forcing her to withdraw from last week’s WTA 250 event in Austin, Texas.
Raducanu confessed to still be feeling the effects of her illness, “I didn’t feel too good this morning. I’m just so happy with the way I fought and dealt with the circumstances.”
The 20-year-old even confessed to have been sleeping prior to her battle with the Montenegrin, who had beaten her in their only previous meeting.
“Today, before the match, I did not warm up. Two minutes before I was called I was sleeping in the treatment room, so I’m just proud to have got out there and then won,” said Raducanu.
It was only Raducanu’s second ever win in the desert, following on from defeating Caroline Garcia last year, and after the match the Brit revealed that she had deleted social media off her phone.
“After the AO [Australian Open] I deleted WhatsApp and Instagram off my phone, and after that, I’ve been living under my own little rock.”
“I felt like sometimes you go through patches where you just want to zone in on yourself, and I was very content with my life without it.”
The 2021 US Open champion added, “I’ve learned regardless of what you do, if you do good, if you do bad, people are going to come at you regardless.”
Raducanu will play her second round match over the weekend against 20th seed, and Australian Open semi-finalist, Magda Linette, who she beat in Seoul last year on the way to her only semi-final of 2022.
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