Emma Raducanu believes she is in the best mental headspace she has been in since winning the US Open in 2021 as the comeback of the Brit grows steam.
Raducanu hasn't been seen on court since the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she lost out to Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-1.
Since then, she has had surgery on both her ankle and both wrists in order to remove the constant injuries that she has been suffering since that famous triumph and has been the main source of criticism as she hasn't backed up her run in New York.
But speaking to Laura Robson for Amazon Prime Video who knows herself about weight of expectation from being a lauded British player, she admitted that while rehab has been boring and slow, mentally it has been good.
"The process is so slow and repetitive," Raducanu said. "Sometimes it's really hard to just not get bored of it and just keep in mind the long-term end goal. And just keeping that in mind just keeps you going even on the days you don't feel like."
"It was difficult to train. Like for example, if it was just a wrist, you could run or still do other things. So in the beginning, it was very much quite sedentary. I feel like mentally, I'm in a better place to compete now than I ever have been before or since the US Open," she added.
In terms of her actual comeback plans, it is next season she is aiming for and while she isn't looking for immediate success, it will be done when she feels right.
"I'm just aiming to get back as soon as possible without rushing it because I know when you rush, you just set yourself back a little bit," Raducanu continued.
"So yeah, hoping to get back on court for next season. And I know it's going to be difficult when you haven't competed for a long time, like almost a year. So it's for sure going to take me some tournaments to get back into and up to speed. But once I do, I think I'm in a better headspace to compete now."