British tennis star Emma Raducanu won’t play in Eastbourne next week as she wants to give herself an additional week of rest before returning to action at Wimbledon, according to James Gray. However, Raducanu could still get some action next week as she might decide to play a match at the Hurlingham exhibition.
NEW: Emma Raducanu is expected not to play the last pre-Wimbledon tournament at Eastbourne in order to avoid rushing back from injury.
I’m told she has not requested a wildcard and although she has until tomorrow morning to do so, that is said to be unlikely.
— James Gray (@jamesgraysport) June 16, 2022
Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic both sign up to play the Giorgi Armani Classic at the Hurlingham Club next week.
With Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud confirmed, plus Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu possibly also involved, it could literally be bigger than any event on grass so far…
— James Gray (@jamesgraysport) June 17, 2022
Raducanu, 19, kicked off her grass season last week in Nottingham, where she was forced to retire after just a couple of games. In the first game of her Nottingham first round match, Raducanu sustained a side injury and was forced to retire while 3-4 down to Viktorija Golubic.
Raducanu pulled out of this week’s WTA event in Birmingham, but remained hopeful she would be ready for Wimbledon. If Raducanu indeed decides not to play next week, she will arrive to Wimbledon with basically no preparation.
However, her decision is pretty understandable as being fit for Wimbledon is the top priority for Raducanu.
Raducanu’s bad luck
Raducanu was hoping to have a big grass season in front of her home fans but then sustained an injury in the opening game of her first match on grass.
“The first game, an absolute freak. I think I pulled something, I am not really sure what exactly happened,” Raducanu said after the match. Raducanu was thinking about retiring in the opening game, but suggested she feared the reaction from the crowd.
“I was thinking ‘I don’t know how I am going to do this’,” Raducanu said. “But if you do something [retire] in the first game people will be like ‘Well why did you walk on to the court’.
I definitely tried to get through it but in the second game I called the physio on and at the first changeover she was trying to do some work but even from there she told me it was going to be really difficult to continue.”
