Emma Raducanu's Australian Open return seems to be in some doubt after withdrawing as feared from her exhibition return in Macau early next month seemingly not ready to take any form of steps back into action yet.
Raducanu turned 21 on Monday, but over the weekend reports were that she was set to withdraw from the exhibition which has long been a small step back into the sport after being out since April and one to see where she is at.
But supposedly she recently had a wrist setback despite having two surgeries on both wrists in order to hopefully quell long term injury issues. A spokesperson for her management as per Daily Mail said that she had been asked to commit a few weeks ago by MGM, but was unable to guarantee she would play.
So as a result has now withdrawn albeit not officially with the poster instead having her face and name removed with Taylor Fritz and Daria Kasatkina among the leading names playing in Macau.
The plan remains for her to play to begin in Australia, with likely the ASB Classic mooted in Auckland due to many players being involved in United Cup and Raducanu's need for wildcards.
But with this latest setback and the fact she has not began training yet or appointed any sort of new team since parting with Sebastian Sachs brings up warning signs and will put doubts in the minds of Raducanu fans ahead of the 2024 season.
While Raducanu will be celebrating her 21st birthday, it seems going into the new year, the comeback is still very much a question mark.
Emma has withdrawn from the MGM Macau Tennis Masters Focus on training and come back when 💯 #Raducanu | #EmmaRaducanu
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