Raducanu expresses desire to return to China following quarantine restrictions lift
WTA
Emma Raducanu has expressed her desire to return to China, where her mother comes from, now that quarantine restrictions have been lifted.
China's COVID-19 restrictions have had a significant impact on the WTA Tour. The country is one of the largest investors on the women's professional circuit, but tournaments have not been held there since 2019.
Although China's prominence on the WTA Tour received criticism due to its human rights record, its events provided some of the best prize money. The replacement tournaments that organizers scrambled to find could not match those financial incentives.
China recently loosened its rules about how long visitors to the country must quarantine before being able to socialize freely after close to three years of very strict restrictions that have impacted its huge massive population.
The loosening of rules would make the holding of professional tournaments in 2023 more likely. However, there is uncertainty surrounding whether the WTA will return to China after what happened to Peng Shuai.
The former US Open semifinalist disappeared last year after making sexual assault allegations against a member of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2021 and fears about her safety have persisted since.
Those concerns are very important, but Raducanu has family members in China, including her grandmother. Unsurprisingly, she is delighted by the loosening of the quarantine rules and hopes to vist her family soon.
"Yea I mean it was amazing news when i saw that the quarantine restrictions were being lifted. So, I really hope to come, we'll see after Melbourne on the way back maybe. But that would be amazing, I'd definitely go back to Shenyang and see my relatives, see my family."
"I haven't been back since before the pandemic because it was extremely difficult and I've missed it a lot. So, I am very much looking forward to that chance."- Emma Raducanu
Raducanu is currently preparing for the 2023 Australian Open, and is hoping to have a strong showing at the tournament. Naomi Osaka is among the players who withdrew from the year's opening Grand Slam.
