The Times - UK (2022-06-08)

64 Wednesday June 8 2022 | the times

SportTennis

she already felt the need to summon a
physio. A medical timeout followed the
third game, during which she took
some painkillers and lay on a towel on
her back, receiving treatment to her
left side.
The signs looked ominous, but Radu-
canu is acutely aware of just how much
the British sporting public have been
looking forward to seeing her in action
this summer, after those remarkable
feats last year that propelled her from
A-level student to household name in a
matter of months.
“I was thinking, ‘I don’t know how I
am going to do this,’ ” Raducanu said.
“But if you do something in the first
game people will be like, ‘Well, why did
you walk on to the court?’ I tried to get
through it, but in the second game I
called the physio on and at the first
changeover she was trying to do some
work, but even from there she told me it
was going to be really difficult to con-
tinue. You don’t want to stop after one
or two games.”
After 35 minutes of increasing
discomfort, Raducanu finally
succumbed to the inevitable,
informing the umpire that she
could not continue and shak-
ing the hand of Golubic, 29,
who offered a sympathetic
pat on the shoulder in
return. Raducanu will have
a scan to determine the
extent of the injury, but
her participation in the
Rothesay Classic
grass-court
event in Bir-
mingham next
week must be
in serious
doubt, which
would leave her
underprepared for Wimbledon,
which begins on June 27.

I tried so hard but was struggling

even just to breathe, says Raducanu

Asked whether she thought

she would be fit to play at

Wimbledon, she said: “I have

no idea. It could have just

seized up and gone into spasm

and then it is bad for a few days.

I cannot diagnose myself, I will

get it checked out. Then we will

see from there.”

Her return to the All England

Club, 12 months after bursting

into the public consciousness by

reaching the fourth round last

year, had been envisaged as one

of the highlights of the British

sporting summer. Now the

concerns about her ability to

withstand the rigours of regular

competition will only intensify,

doubts that she has previously ac-

knowledged, recognising that “my

body is learning on the job”.

Before she made her WTA

Tour debut here in Notting-

ham a year ago, she had bare-

ly played any competitive

tennis for a year because of

the pandemic. She then

embarked on that unfor-

gettable summer, reach-

ing the round of 16 at

Wimbledon before re-

tiring against the Aus-

tralian Ajla Tomljanov-

ic because of breathing

problems, then creat-

ing history by becom-

ing the first qualifier to

win the US Open, a

picture of youthful

athleticism and wide-

eyed optimism.

Lucrative sponsorship

deals and the BBC Sports

Personality of the Year

award followed, but luck

began to turn against her when she

contracted Covid in December,

disrupting a pre-season period

dedicated to strength and condi-

tioning. For a player who had yet to

experience a full season of the

weekly grind on tour, who had

played so little in the preceding

year, such a period could have been

crucial, as Tim Henman suggested

last month. This season she has

suffered problems with blisters,

with her hip, with her toenails in

her early matches on clay, with her

lower back and now with her

side.

“She has not had the opportuni-

ty to put in that work away from

tournament play,” Henman said. “In

November-December time, when you

don’t have tournament play, you can do

your off-season work that gives you

that foundation. Unfortunately for

Emma, she got Covid and missed prob-

ably 3½ weeks, and she’s just been play-

ing catch-up. She’s only really perform-

ing at these tournaments with her own

natural fitness. She needs to build

resistance into her body.”

The need for greater robustness was

clear again yesterday within minutes of

her setting foot on the Central Court at

Nottingham. Although she is awaiting

the details of her injury, she did not feel

as though it was connected to the back

problem that had forced her to

retire during her first-round match

at the Italian Open against Bianca

Andreescu last month.

“It was just something random,” she

said. “I’m obviously disappointed and

it’s really bad luck. You just want to

catch a break, but I haven’t really. I pre-

pared really well for this tournament. I

was feeling good, comfortable, and I

think even when I was out there, there

were signs I was happy with, playing

more aggressively and stuff. It is just a

shame.”

Strange though it may sound, she was

not simply searching for consolation at

a time of bitter disappointment in iden-

tifying positive signs from such a brief

appearance on court. Despite her

impaired mobility, she won both of

Golubic’s first two service games,

taking a 3-1 lead when she stooped to

retrieve a drop shot and her Swiss oppo-

nent was unable to recover. When she

did not have to move from side to side to

play her shot, her ball-striking was

impressively crisp.

But serving was becoming increas-

ingly painful and by the time of the

seventh game, her serve was badly

underpowered and delivered with a

wince. Her final shot was a limp double-

handed backhand into the net, giving

Golubic a 4-3 lead and ending the

match. She left the court disconsolately,

her head bowed. This was not how

Raducanu’s return to grass was sup-

posed to begin.

As far as her future appearances this

summer are concerned, the problem

may be that her left side is such a tricky

place to protect. “Where the location

[of the injury] is, I need it for every-

thing,” she said. “To move, to serve,

even to breathe in and out. I just

couldn’t really do anything.”

It was always going to be fiendishly

difficult for Raducanu to follow a first

season that had unfolded in a manner

that was beyond a young tennis player’s

dreams. But now her second season,

disrupted by injury after injury, is

fast becoming something of a night-

mare.

6 Andy Murray began his campaign at

the Boss Open in Stuttgart with victory

over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell,

a qualifier. The two-times Wimbledon

singles champion lost in the semi-finals

of the second-tier Challenger event in

Surbiton last week and has headed to

Germany to continue his grass-court

season. He lost the first three games to

O’Connell but recovered to claim a 6-4,

6-3 victory and reach the second round.

continued from back

Raducanu receives

on-court treatment

before retiring

hurt after only

seven games

Her injury-hit year

January

Australian Open

Hampered by a

blister on her racket

hand during her

second-round

defeat.

February

Guadalajara Open

Retired with a left

hip injury after three

hours and 36

minutes in the first

round.

March

Indian Wells Open

Said that she had

suffered a stiff back

for a few days after

losing in the third

round.

April

Billie Jean King Cup

Struggled to move

because of a blister

on her right foot

during a defeat in

her second singles

match.

May

Madrid Open

More back problems

forced her to take a

medical timeout on

her way to a third-

round loss.

Italian Open

Attempted to play

through the pain in

her back but retired

in the second set of

her opening match.

Yesterday

Nottingham

Suffered with pain

around her ribs

yesterday in the first

game and, after

treatment, retired

seven games into

the first set.

Raducanu took painkillers

but could not shake off the

problem with her left side

ac

b c d d t e w p y c

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tourna

NATHAN STIRK/GETTY IMAGES

Raducanu leaves dejectedly from her

Nottingham Open first-round match

Glasgow named host of finals

Emma Raducanu could compete for

her country on home soil for the

first time this year after Great Britain

was named host of the Billie Jean

King Cup (Stuart Fraser writes).

The conclusion of the largest

annual team competition in

women’s sport will take place in

Glasgow from November 8 to 13

after the LTA was successful with its

bid worth more than £10 million. As

hosts, Britain have been given a

place in the 12-team finals for the

first time since 1993 despite losing

their qualifier in April.

It gives the governing body of

British tennis a chance to capitalise

on the interest in Raducanu at a

time of year when tennis is not

normally in the public spotlight.

“This is an amazing opportunity

to build the profile of women’s

tennis,” Anne Keothavong, the

British team captain, said.