Emma Raducanu may have only recently returned after a long time out, but her confidence has certainly not been dented by that ordeal.
Raducanu played her first tournament since last April at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She had been kept out for close to a year with wrist and ankle injuries. The Brit had to have surgeries on both, and Raducanu recently spoke about being unprepared for matches before the surgeries.
The 2021 US Open champion impressed in her first tournament back, winning her opening match, before narrowly losing to the eventual runner-up in Auckland Elina Svitolina. It was a very good first tournament back for the Raducanu.
There were then some concerns when Raducanu withdrew from two exhibition matches. The first was against Naomi Osaka, who also ended up withdrawing, and the second was at the Kooyong Classic.
However, Raducanu will play at the Australian Open, where she faces Shelby Rogers, and in her press conference, the 21-year-old said being consistently healthy is her biggest goal at the moment.
"I think success to me in the long-term is, for the rest of the year, to play a full season, to be healthy throughout, to be able to train consistent weeks."
Raducanu then said that she feels her level will return if she keeps putting in the right amount of time and dedication on the court and in the gym.
"I think that will come with time in the gym, time on court, being able to play the calendar, not thinking about, will I have to pull out from this one, does that hurt."
Although Raducanu knows she needs to put in the work, she ended on a confident note, feeling her best level returning is inevitable if she works hard.
"I think my level, to be honest, is just too good not to come through if I put consistent work together."
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