As Emma Raducanu prepares to kick off her Australian Open campaign this weekend, the British tennis star's fate is more unpredictable than the rest of the field, according to former World No.1 Martina Navratilova.
Raducanu missed most of last season due to injury, as the 2021 US Open champion underwent surgery on her wrists and ankles. Prior to being sidelined, Raducanu had been struggling with form amidst coaching changes, which saw her suffer a significant drop in rankings. Nonetheless, the former World No.10 is set to make her return to Melbourne, following a round of 16 showing in Auckland last week.
The WTA legend spoke about the upcoming Australian Open, giving her take on possible scenarios as the event unfolded. Regarding Raducanu, Navratilova was not quite as confident when speculating on the British star's fate.
"If she’s healthy, she’s a threat to anybody anytime, but she can also lose early, which can shake your confidence," said Navratilova. "She’s so much fun to watch when she’s healthy, so much fun. But we haven’t seen anything close to the form she won the Open with. I hope she gets to that."
Some human bodies cannot handle the stress and intensity the exhausting WTA tour places on them. I'm leaning more and more toward that line of thinking given Emma's propensity toward "injury". She now seems to have a better grip on the mental issues at this point. However the body strength and stamina factor is still in question. Doesn't seem fair to have the motivation and talent, yet the body isn't cooperating. Basically sucks, but Life is full of unfairness.