Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open Return in Jeopardy Following Consecutive Withdrawals

Emma Raducanu‘s much-awaited comeback this tennis season isn’t going well. After missing out on the Australian Open’s practice match, the former Grand Slam champion has also pulled out of the Kooyong Classic.

The British tennis star, who was on the sidelines throughout the 2023 season due to her injury woes, made a stellar return to the court at the ASB Classic. However, Raducanu’s participation in the forthcoming Australian Open might be in jeopardy, as she has decided to withdraw from the premier lead-up tournament for the Grand Slam event.

Emma Raducanu pulls out of the Kooyong Classic

The renowned tennis journalist Marc McGowan recently shared the news of the British tennis player’s withdrawal from the premier lead-up event for the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne. He tweeted, “Emma Raducanu is out of the Kooyong Classic, where she was going to play Paula Badosa tomorrow, after withdrawing from her #AusOpen practice match as well.”

As she will not be playing her first-round match against Paula Badosa, McGowan also brought to light the possible reason behind Raducanu’s decision. He stated, “Soreness was the reason given for the AO withdrawal, after wrist and ankle injuries ruined her 2023 season.” Even though there is a lot of skepticism surrounding her comeback this season, Raducanu showed some great signs during her campaign at the ASB Classic.

Raducanu clinched a victory at her comeback tournament

After a season-long absence from the tour, the 21-year-old was back on the court with a bang. Raducanu started her campaign at New Zealand’s premier tennis tournament on a high note as she prevailed in her first-round matchup. The former US Open champion breezed past her Romanian opponent Elena-Gabriela Ruse in a three-set match, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

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Raducanu later faced the second seed, Elina Svitolina, and won the first set match of her next-round match. However, the Ukrainian tennis player somehow managed to make a comeback as she won the match with a score of  6-7, 7-6, 6-1. Though she failed to progress to the latter stages of the ASB Classic, Raducanu showed some promising signs of a robust comeback this season.

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