Emma Raducanu smiles before refusing to divulge injury after Indian Wells victory | Tennis | Sport

Emma Raducanu offered a wry smile before refusing to open up about her wrist injury after beating Magda Linette at Indian Wells. The Brit went into the tournament with the issue, which plagued her 2022 season. 

Raducanu was forced to end her season early last year due to the wrist problem. However, she has returned at the start of 2023  and enjoyed an encouraging run at Indian Wells. The 2021 US Open champion overcame a first-set tiebreak to beat Linette 7-6 6-2 on Saturday night to progress through to the third round.

However, there was some concern for the 20-year-old when she was forced to call the trainer to look at her wrist. Fans held their breath but Raducanu was able to continue and see out the remainder of the match. 

Speaking afterwards, Raducanu offered a smile but refused to fully explain what the problem was. Asked about the trainer appearing, she said: “Yeah, I got some treatment in between. 

“It’s the same. It’s manageable. Still able to win matches at this level. Managing it. Yeah, as to what it is, I’m not going to go into it.”

The Bromley-based star has endured 18 months full of injuries and inconsistent form – seeing her drop to 77 in the world rankings. 

But she enjoyed her performance at Indian Wells, adding: “I’d say I feel more positive about my game today. The first day I didn’t really know what was going on. Today I felt pretty decent out there, especially with the conditions. It was really windy. I did well to overcome it.

“I just feel good with the way I’m working with my team, not getting too overly pleased or too down. I’m just plodding away. Yeah, I feel pretty good about how things are going.”

Raducanu had admitted that her wrist injury had ‘flared up’ again at the start of 2022, having suffered from the issue at the end of last year. She said ahead of Indian Wells: “The same issue that I had last year has started to flare back up.