Emma Raducanu started her 2023 season well, but she suffered a freak injury on a slippery court, which seemed destined to impact her season in a meaningful way, but perhaps it won’t come to that.
Raducanu finished her 2022 season on a sour note after dealing with wrist issues that forced her to take time away from the sport to get back to full health. She was able to do that and make a return to the courts in Abu Dhabi for an exhibition match with Ons Jabeur.
That match went well for the 2021 US Open winner, and she was excited about what 2023 held in store for her. Her first match happened at the ASB Classic in Auckland, which she won without too many problems.
Then, in her second match, Raducanu experienced a nasty fall due to the slippery courts in Auckland, which totally derailed that match. At that point, she was easily cruising through the match and was likely going to win.
After the fall, though, Raducanu experienced issues with her ankle, and she retired from the match, clearly struggling physically. That created a lot of worry among her fans because she was looking really good before that injury happened.
Fans were excited about what she could possibly do at the Australian Open, and with the injury, it seemed like she wouldn’t even be able to compete at the event, as the prognosis looked quite bad initially.
Thankfully, the British player was able to find herself on the courts again soon after, as she was pictured practicing just a few days after that ankle injury.
Time will tell whether she ultimately plays at the Australian Open or not, but for now, it seems like the injury hasn’t caused too much damage, which is very good news. She’s been quite unlucky with injuries lately.