The negativity around Emma Raducanu has gathered momentum in the second half of 2024, yet the overall picture for her comeback year still looks bright.
This time last year, 2021 US Open champion Raducanu was still edging her way back from three different surgeries, as she underwent operations on both wrists and her ankle.
There were some suggestions that she may try to play an event at the back end of 2023, but the Grand Slam winner waited for the start of this year to make her comeback in Aukland.
While Raducanu has made use of her protected ranking that is afforded to players suffering from injuries and has also been the beneficiary of wildcards that have aided her comeback, a target of finishing this year in the top 50 would have been viewed as a good effort after she dropped well outside the top 200 during her time on the sidelines.
Well, Raducanu is currently at No 54 in the live WTA Rankings and with no points to defend in the final weeks of this year, there is a good chance she will finish in the top 50 if she can get back on court this year.
A foot injury that saw her pull out of a host of events in the Asian swing of the WTA Tour has cast some doubt over Raducanu’s short-term future, but the bigger picture has to be positive for the 21-year-old.
When she has managed to get herself onto court, she has competed at a high level, but her physical issues have been an ongoing concern as she has played in just three tournaments since her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon in July.
Her positivity on court reached a peak during the English summer as she excelled on grass courts at Nottingham, Eastbourne and Wimbledon, while she also showed impressive form as she led Britain to an impressive away win against France in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers in April.
There have also been some disappointing low points in her comeback year, but Raducanu appears to be ready to deal with the ups and downs of a tennis journey.
“There has been a lot of volatility over the past three years and I think the most I’ve come into myself has been in the last few weeks,” she said in an interview with Women’s Health Magazine.
“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is non-attachment; acknowledging that everything comes and goes. Every moment is fleeting, and how you interact with the present dictates how you feel, the quality of your work, the quality of your relationships, and how much the people around you enjoy being with you.
“I’ve taught myself not to label things as black or white. For example, with this injury, I’m trying to catch myself and stop labelling it as like, “Oh, I’m so unlucky, this is so bad.” I’ve learnt to accept things and reframe them.
“I’m not completely unable to exercise, so I’ll still do things like yoga or Pilates – low-impact exercise, so I’m focusing on that. I’ve matured a lot in the last few weeks, to be honest.”
Raducanu is now planning to make a return to action at the WTA 250 event in Hong Kong at the end of this month and she will be hoping her body holds up to allow her to challenge for a first title since that iconic US Open win.
The exciting aspect of this story has to be that Raducanu has plenty of room for improvement in 2025, but she would have taken a ranking of just outside the top 50 at this stage of the year when she started her comeback effort last January.
