Injury doubts are swirling around Emma Raducanu just four days out from Wimbledon after she failed to turn up for her scheduled practice slot – the day after she reportedly left the All England Club wearing an orthopedic boot on her right foot.
Daily Mail Sport understands the British No 1 is managing a niggle, but while that wording would suggest something minor the boot and the no-show are hardly promising signs.
On Wednesday night, tennis website Clay reported that Raducanu had been wearing a boot as she left the Wimbledon practice courts for the day.
Initial fears were allayed by her name appearing on the practice schedule for Thursday at noon. But when that time came up, court 10 at Aorangi Park stood empty.
Raducanu hit at Wimbledon on Monday but was not booked on the practice schedule on either Tuesday or Wednesday. It is in theory possible that she practiced elsewhere – or will turn up at Wimbledon to hit later this afternoon.
The 23-year-old had a superb start to her grass court season when she reached the final of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club, losing to Donna Vekic.
Injury doubts are swirling around Emma Raducanu just four days out from Wimbledon
She did not look at her best physically during that 6-0, 7-6 defeat and said afterwards: ‘I have just been dealing with a few niggles over the past few weeks.’
Raducanu was down to play Nottingham last week but withdrew, then declined the option of taking a wildcard into this week’s Eastbourne Open.
Her season has been severely disrupted, by a viral illness mainly, more than by injury, and she played only 16 matches this year before that run at Queen’s.
But a series of sparkling performances there – and her rehiring of Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided her to the US Open title in 2021 – raised expectations ahead of Wimbledon, where she is seeded ahead of Friday’s draw.
One player who did make her allotted practice slot was 44-year-old Serena Williams, tuning up ahead of a first singles match in four years. The seven-time Wimbledon champion was hitting with world No 13 Marta Kostyuk and the eye test was what one might expect: movement not quite there yet but ball-striking superb.
