Emma Raducanu playing ‘the sort of tennis’ that won her the US Open as she returns at Australian Open, says Laura Robson
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ByEurosport
Published 15/01/2024 at 14:29 GMT
Emma Raducanu shocked the world when she won the US Open in 2021 at the age of just 18, and Eurosport expert Laura Robson believes she’s playing a similar brand of tennis again as she prepares to make her long-awaited comeback. Raducanu has been sidelined for a lengthy period after surgery, but is primed to make her Grand Slam return on Tuesday against American Shelby Rogers.
'Trying to rip the ball' - Robson excited to see Raducanu playing 'aggressively' again
Eurosport expert Laura Robson believes that Emma Raducanu is playing a similar "aggressive" brand of tennis that saw her win the 2021 US Open.
Raducanu, who returns to Grand Slam action on Tuesday in the first round of the Australian Open against Shelby Rogers, made her return from injury in Auckland earlier this month.
Raducanu reached the second round in New Zealand, impressing as she powered past Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the first round, before falling to eventual runner-up Elina Svitolina in a tight second-round encounter.
After a long injury lay-off, Robson believes Raducanu has shown encouraging signs as she prepares for her opener in Melbourne.
“The surgery is the easiest part because you get that out of the way and you feel like that box has been ticked,” Robson said in the Eurosport Cube.
“It’s only when you start in the physio room and in amongst all the rehab in the gym how hard it’s going to be to get back on the court.
“She had more of a hand issue than a wrist, which is great because the wrist is non-stop rehab where you’ve got your hand in an ice bucket and you’re swirling it around doing exercise after exercise.
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“It’s mentally really draining, and you get to the stage where you get back onto court for the first time and it’s like Christmas morning because it’s where all that work has come altogether for something and you see the finish line.
“But even then, she had a couple of setbacks as she mentioned where she had to pull back and take it easier for a few weeks, and really assess how hard to push it.
“That’s something you have to learn after a few big injuries; you might not be able to practise the same amount of hours you did before, work quite as hard in the gym or work in different ways most of the time.
“So to see her back and playing more aggressively, I thought was the biggest difference in Auckland, that she was absolutely trying to rip the ball, which is the sort of tennis that she played back at the US Open that she won.
“So all positives, every time I see her she’s got a massive smile on her face. She’s happy to be here.”
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Eurosport expert Mats Wilander said that he believed Raducanu would be a special player after she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021, months before shocking the tennis world with victory as a qualifier at the US Open.
Wilander hopes that she can avoid the same injury issues that disrupted her career since her win in New York.
“She played very well in Auckland, especially in the first couple of sets against Svitolina,” he told Eurosport.
“She’s such a great tennis player; I thought so the first time I saw her when she made the fourth round at Wimbledon. Immediately you can see how talented she is, she doesn’t have any weaknesses, and I was also there for the US Open.
“She seems to have a great mind and moves extremely well. You hope that the injuries won’t follow her for the rest of her career.
“She reminds me of Bianca Andreescu, the Canadian, when they’re healthy, they’re incredible tennis players; young, but they understand the game.
“When you’re breaking down all the time, you can’t get into the flow of things and your confidence is just not there.”
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