After recovering from a back spasm that disturbed her preparations, Emma Raducanu says she is prepared to compete against the best in the world at the Australian Open.
The British number two has not participated in a competitive match since representing her country at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November, and she enters the season’s first Grand Slam.
Raducanu experienced the spasm while bending to tie her shoelace, forcing her to leave Auckland International at the end of December.
In the Melbourne first round, she will face Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in her opening match of the new season. She talked about it and said: “I feel good. I feel healthy and feel I’ve been training well. I’m prepared and ready to go. I think I can be a dangerous opponent for anyone really. You have to have that belief as a player. It’s not really worth going to court if you don’t believe you can win.”
Fans were not hopeful of Raducanu’s chances at the Australian Open. One fan wrote: “R2 exit pending then!”
Emma Raducanu says she’s “ready to go” against the world’s best at the Australian Open. 🎾#BBCTennis pic.twitter.com/j1atzmer3t
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 10, 2025
Emma Raducanu in 2025
Now the world no.60, Raducanu played her last match on the 19th of November 2024 when she beat world no.235 Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4 6-4 in the Rubber 1 in (draw).
This season Emma has managed to achieve an overall 23-13 match record.
Emma Raducanu will play the world no.56 Viktoriya Tomova in the final. The head to head is 1-0 for Tomova.
Emma Raducanu |
| Embed from Getty Images |
