British teenage tennis star Emma Raducanu has declared that she is fit to compete at the French Open, despite being forced to pull out of the Italian Open last week. Raducanu’s last outing came in Rome, where she took on Canada’s Bianca Andreescu.
Her match - and week - in Italy was cut short though, as the 19-year-old was forced to retire from her clash with Andreescu due to a back problem when 6-2, 2-1 down. As well as struggling in Italy, Raducanu also suffered with the injury at the Miami Open, and Madrid Open.
It then clearly took its toll in Rome forcing the Brit to retire mid-match, before she headed back to London where she was assessed and received treatment.
Her recovery comes at the perfect time, with the second Grand Slam of the season kicking off in Paris on Sunday. Ahead of the event, Raducanu made an early trip to the French capital and has been going through her pre-tournament preparations at Roland Garros.
The 19-year-old has played at the famous clay court just once in her career, four years ago as a junior. Ahead of her senior French Open debut, Raducanu admitted that it was initially touch and go as to whether she would be able to compete.
She said: “I'm learning about my body, for sure, and I'm very happy to be continuing my preparations for the French Open and to be able to play this tournament. It was definitely thrown into question [missing the tournament]. But at the end of the day I'm just learning, feeling it out. I got the all clear to continue with preparations and see how things go.
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“Last week after Rome I definitely had to slow down that week, but this week I have been training and luckily being able to practise all of the shots. It feels good to be able to move freely and just like run around. You know, it's quite fun.”
Raducanu will take on a qualifier in the first round of the event, who currently remains unknown with the preliminary rounds of the tournament delayed due to heavy rain in Paris. Despite lacking much WTA experience on clay, the Brit has been pleased with her improvements in recent weeks.
She commented: “I think that I have definitely come a long way and probably progressed faster than expected of myself in the last few weeks and I really am enjoying the clay.”
