Emma Raducanu will head to Melbourne within the hope of being match for the Australian Open.
The British primary retired in tears from her second-round match in opposition to Viktoria Kuzmova on the ASB Classic in Auckland on Thursday after rolling her left ankle.
Raducanu had the joint taped up forward of the deciding set however performed just one extra level, wincing in ache earlier than deciding she couldn’t proceed.
The precise nature of the damage will not be but identified, however it’s understood her crew hope it’s a minor pressure, giving the 20-year-old an opportunity of being match for the yr’s opening grand slam starting on 16 January.
Raducanu’s frustration was totally comprehensible given all of the damage issues she suffered in her first full yr on tour, culminating in a wrist challenge that saved her off courtroom for 2 months.
She started 2023 feeling good bodily and gained her first match in Auckland in opposition to Linda Fruhvirtova earlier than taking the opening set 6-0 in opposition to Kuzmova after which being pegged again.
Bad climate in Auckland meant the match was performed indoors and Raducanu was sad with the situation of the courts.
“It’s difficult to take,” she stated on stuff.co.nz. “I’ve put a lot of physical work in the last few months and I’ve been feeling good and optimistic.
“So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle, is pretty disappointing, in the first week as well. I thought I was playing some pretty decent tennis.
“The courts are incredibly slick, like very slippery, so to be honest it’s not a surprise that this happened to someone.”
Tournament director Nicolas Lamperin responded to Raducanu’s claims on Friday by insisting the indoor courts have been secure.
He stated: “The courts have been checked, the courts are fit to play. We’ve had a number of matches on these courts and we haven’t had any injuries apart from yesterday and the courts had been redone at the start of the year.
“We are obviously very sorry about Emma’s injury. Every player works really hard in the off-season and that’s not what you expect when you play a tournament in week one.
“However, injuries happen all the time. It could have happened on an outdoor court.”
Raducanu made her Australian Open debut final yr, reaching the second spherical.
