Emma Raducanu has admitted she is unsure how her body will hold up to the rigours of the grass court season after another back spasm in training. The 22-year-old’s latest injury concern came as she was preparing for the first women’s tournament at Queen’s Club for 52 years, and left her unable to practise for several days.
It was Raducanu’s second back spasm in three weeks, after initially experiencing the problem against Danielle Collins in Strasbourg a week before the French Open, and she admits she goes into the Queen’s Club event with low expectations as a result.
“Of course I want to win this tournament, like every tournament, but especially when it’s at home,” Raducanu said. “But my expectations are pretty low, because I played points for the first time today, and I’ve had maybe two or three days on the grass courts, so it’s not been much.”
Asked whether she was worried about it affecting her grass court season, Raducanu replied: “I can’t really predict the future, and how it’s going to be. I know I’ve been managing my back for the last few weeks now. It’s something that comes and goes.
“It can be frustrating. When I was playing in Strasbourg in my second-round match it definitely hindered me, and in the first round in Paris when I got through. But I try not to let it get to me. I just have to manage it and take care of it when things happen.”
Raducanu knows she faces a stacked field at Queen’s Club that includes the reigning Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejčíková, the Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng and the Australian Open winner Madison Keys. However, her preparations were given a lift when her former coach Nick Cavaday, who left her camp for health reasons in January, returned to help her practise with her main coach Mark Petchey still at the French Open.
“I’m happy to see Nick healthy, first of all,” Raducanu said. “It’s been a long time since we were last on court together in Australia, and Mark is in Paris commentating. Nick was around, and it is nice to have a few days with him.”
The new WTA 500 tournament at Queen’s Club features an enhanced prize money of $1.4m (£1m), but the purse remains about half that of the men’s ATP 500 event, which begins next week. Raducanu did not want to be drawn on whether there should be more equal prize money between the men’s and women’s tour.
“There is obviously a big difference, and I’m sure a lot of players will say their piece on it, but prefer not to kind of get involved,” she said. “Whatever the situation is, I’ll kind of roll with it, but I’m never really going to take a stand, either way.”
She was equally non-committal when asked about the LTA’s commitment to equal prize money at Queen’s by 2029. “I don’t really get involved or stay in the loop with all the boards and all the decisions and stuff,” she said. “I just get on with it. But I don’t feel like I really am playing for money. Of course, I need to sustain my team, which is extremely expensive. And with my kind of profile, coaches and team members see that. So it is a very expensive sport, but it’s not my motivation when I play.”
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As a child, Raducanu used to come to Queen’s Club with her father, although she admitted that she was more interested in looking for brownies than watching the tennis. But now she admits she is delighted that women are finally back playing for the first time since 1973.
“To be playing here is amazing. It’s the first time there’s been a women’s event for a very long time,” she said. “It’s going to be great to be playing on home turf with a good crowd.”
Raducanu will also be making only her second appearance in a WTA doubles tournament after agreeing to partner with her fellow Briton Katie Boulter, with whom she has played in Billie Jean King matches. “It’ll be extremely special,” Boulter said. “Obviously, she’s a great player, and I’m looking forward to having the first of many more.”