Emma Raducanu ‘very positive’ despite sickness affected defeat

Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the Australian Open, suffering with sickness that left her unable to ‘see the ball’ in the deciding set.

Raducanu was beaten by world No.94 Yafan Wang, 4-6 6-4 4-6, in a tight three set battle in Melbourne, but was evidently hampered in the third set and had her blood pressure checked by the medical team.

Despite this, the Brit admitted that it was not comparable to the difficulties she faced with injury last year and fought until the very last ball.

“I think, to be honest, with what I went through last year, you feel awful right now, at some points I couldn’t really see the ball very well,” revealed Raducanu.

She continued, “But I think with everything I went through last year; it’s made me so much tougher. There was no way I was going to pull out. She was going to have to beat me, and she did. She served it out.

“I think the last year off and also just with the amount of niggles and everything that I had, the setbacks, it did make me a lot tougher.”

Although fans of Raducanu were understandably concerned for her health, the 21-year-old has confirmed that she feels better having come off court, “Now I feel a little bit better. I had some time. During the match, I was 30-0 up serving, then all of a sudden, I felt so sick, really weak and nauseous. I think everyone could see it was a bit of a battle throughout the third set.

“Like physically, body-wise, I felt fine. It was more I was throwing up in my mouth. Then after the match, it came out. Now I’m okay. Yeah, I’ll get over it. It just sucks with the timing.”

Wasn't to be in round 2, but performances to be proud of in Melbourne 🧵@EmmaRaducanu | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/lF7VJyH1QO

— LTA (@the_LTA) January 18, 2024

Raducanu has won two matches and lost two since returning from wrist and ankle surgeries, but says she is feeling good after making her Grand Slam comeback.

“I’m very positive, and very happy with how my body is,” said the 2021 US Open champion. “I think the wrist in particular was something that I struggled with when coming back because I just had a setback for a few months, so I couldn’t play until late November again.

“Now I feel good, the ankle feels good. If I keep my work consistent, like I said previously, I have a good shot. This is obviously only my first trip back. I need to tidy up some of the areas, a bit of technique and also get used to playing matches outdoors, as well, because the conditions today were very windy.”

Raducanu added, “I think she handled it a lot better, the wind. She jumbled me, she moon-balled me. She gave me a lot of these scrappy little shots, but it worked.”

The Mubadala Open will be Raducanu’s next tournament, with the Brit receiving a wildcard for the ATP 500 tournament taking place in early February.

Inside the baseline…

Although it was a disappointing result for Emma Raducanu today, she showed such great fight against an inspired and frustrating opponent in Yafan Wang. Considering Raducanu has spent eight months away from the WTA Tour, her returning matches in Auckland and Melbourne have to only provide the Brit with positivity and that seems to be the case based off her press conference.

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