Emma Raducanu has a clear idea of what would make her comeback successful, which she shared ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open.
Raducanu spent much of 2023 on the sidelines after undergoing triple surgery early in the year. She tried to play that year, but it became increasingly clear that it wasn't working, so she opted for the drastic measure.
It was a sort of 'cut' made by Raducanu, who used the long recovery time to sort of step away from the sport. She never had a proper chance to digest everything that happened since her dramatic rise as there was pressure to perform and injuries and just never time to digest all of it properly.
The idea of it was to return motivated and fully healthy with the hopes of finding her best tennis again. So, what exactly would be a successful comeback for Raducanu?
She tried to give an answer to that in a recent interview she did with the National. To her, it would be to be healthy and just see her level increase through practices and matches.
"For me, success would be seeing my level improving in practice first and then in matches. I know that when my level will be there, putting it into a match will take some time to apply. But I know that seeing the level increase, that results will follow. Also, I would love to win a title of any grade."
That's a very mature take by Raduacnu, who didn't fall into the trap of naming winning titles as successful. Obviously, that would be a success, but you don't want to put that kind of pressure on yourself.
She was weeks away from tennis for almost nine months. Baby steps should be the mantra and with time results will follow. She's far too talented for it not to happen.
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