Emma Raducanu has pledged to play through the pain barrier at Wimbledon after suffering more back issues in her defeat at the Eastbourne Open. Asked if there was a chance she could miss her home Grand Slam, the British No.1 said: “No, I think I will step on the court regardless.”
The former US Open champion struggled physically as she lost eight games out of nine in the middle of the match and trailed 2-5 in the final set against Aussie teenager Maya Joint. She showed great grit to stop the Aussie No.2 serving out the match before going down to a 4-6 6-1 7-6 defeat in her last match before Wimbledon.
The former US Open winner suffered the spasms before the Australian Open and French Open and pulled out of last week’s Berlin Open after a recurrence at Queen’s Club. She again underwent acupuncture before appearing in Eastbourne.
“I’ve just been managing it,” she said. “Normal fatigue after playing a long match, but, yeah, hopefully I can recover. I still have a few days before Wimbledon so I’m looking forward to kind of recovering, and hopefully it settles.
“I would say it bothers me. I wouldn’t say it’s like I can’t move. Like a lot of athletes, we all carry kind of something that we’re managing and playing through, but I’d just say that it’s, it’s okay, I can play, and I can still put out some, you know, pretty decent tennis in the situation.”
Asked what she will now do before Wimbledon starts on Monday, she said: “I am going to rest tomorrow. Just yeah, take it day by day. Get some practice in. I think it could be a blessing in disguise, having some rest right now.
“I think I’m looking forward to heading back and then getting on the grass at Wimbledon. I think I will like step on the court regardless.”
Alongside her part-time coach Mark Petchey, Raducanu had chief LTA trainer Ian Aylward in her player box at Devonshire Park.
“He’s someone who I’ve known for the last couple years, did a lot of work with him last year, and he’s just a really friendly face of support,” said the world No.38. “It’s nice to have him there, cheering me on. I couldn’t get over the line today but he’s done a lot for me behind the scenes.”
US-born Joint, 19, reaches the quarter-finals after winning her first two grasscourt matches as a pro. Raducanu added: “I think, yeah, I did fight back well, in that situation, I think I put myself in that situation to start with, which wasn’t necessarily great, but I did dig it out in the third set, in terms of getting a few live situations of break points coming back.
“I think it all goes to a bank of experience, and it just keeps the match sharpness ahead of next week as well. I think Maya played a really good match. It was obviously very long, but credit to her. She really stepped up and in a lot of big moments there. So I’m rooting for her, and hopefully she goes all the way.”