"I'm managing it, it's fine" - Emma Raducanu on back issues ahead of Rome Masters

Emma Raducanu says she is still 'managing' a back issue ahead of the Italian Open as her body gets used to the 'intensity' of her first full season on the WTA Tour.

Raducanu, 19, has struggled with several niggling injuries this year, including blisters on her racquet hand at the Australian Open and blisters on her feet during the Billie Jean King Cup. The latest setback was a back issue which hampered her in defeat to Anhelina Kalinina in the last 16 of the Madrid Open. It's not the first time she struggled with her back as she experienced it first in Mexico a couple of months back.

Speaking in Rome about the issues, she said:

“I think it’s just coming from a lot of intensity and overload. My back, I’m managing it. Like it’s fine. But it’s just trying to adapt again to the long matches, to the intensity. I think that all of the small sort of niggles I’m getting, they’re all related and connected to each other, when something is overcompensating perhaps. Yeah, we’ll see.”

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Raducanu did not have an easy draw in Rome having to face Bianca Andreescu in the first round but she's ready for it. She will continue to work with Iain Bates, the Lawn Tennis Association’s head of women’s tennis, in Rome after splitting with coach Torben Beltz as well. Asked about the difference between Rome and Madrid, she said:

“I think here is completely opposite. It’s quite heavy and slow, so there’s going to be a lot longer points. It will be interesting to see what the differences are. But I can already feel them on the court tennis-wise.”

On facing Andreescu she added:

“Of course, we are both pretty good player. It’s going to be a good match-up, for sure. She’s a great athlete and obviously a champion. She’s got a really good attitude. Yeah, I think it’s going to be interesting.”