"You need to push harder physically" - Emma Raducanu set to push the boundaries as she targets positive end to 2025

Emma Raducanu is looking to finish this season with a floury as she prepares to make her debut at the upcoming Ningbo Open. After retiring in Wuhan due to the cruel conditions, she has challenged herself to push harder to get the wins she needs to climb up the rankings.

The 22-year-old has finally started to kick on this season after years of injury setbacks and early exits following her incredible US Open triumph back in 2021. After reaching a career-high 10th in the world back in July 2022, she has tumbled outside of the top 100. However, times are changing with her looking to be seeded for the Australian Open commencing at the start of 2026.

This target is looking very realistic, with her currently sat 29th in the world ahead of the 500 event in Ningbo. The top 32 in the world have an advantage when it comes to Grand Slam events, with them not having to face each other until at least round three. This is something the number one Brit has not had the pleasure of avoiding, being knocked out by Iga Swiatek in Melbourne and again at Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon and most recently Elena Rybakina in New York.

It is unusual to see this much of Raducanu on the Asian swing, with previous injuries preventing her from competing for the whole duration. However, this year is different, with her already participating in the Korea Open, China Open, and Wuhan Open. While all these events ended in early exits, she still had the time to embrace the Chinese fans who had come out to support her.

“I think it's a special feeling. I feel very comfortable, I feel like I get amazing support here, which is so nice," Raducanu said. "I love how invested the Chinese fans are and how much support they give.”

While the fans have treated her well, the conditions have not. Many players have suffered with the excruciating heat and humidity in China, with multiple retirements having cropped up. Raducanu was one to be affected, as she was forced to retire in her opening round match against Ann Li. She fell behind 6-1, 4-1 before citing dizziness. She had her vital signs checked before calling it a day.

This was a big disappointment for the Brit, who has challenged herself to push past the physical boundaries to achieve more victories which will see her compete once more with the best. “I think where it’s different is just, it’s at the end of the season, so you need to push harder physically, you’re feeling it a bit more, and mentally as well, to just focus," she said. "That’s probably the biggest difference.”

While the retirement at Wuhan was a miserable way to end her competition, that was out of her hands. In Seoul and Beijing, Raducanu had opportunities to progress against tough opponents but was shot back down to earth after squandering match points.

In the Korea Open she made light work of Jaqueline Cristian ahead of her second round matchup against Barbora Krejcikova. She clinched the first set before attempting to serve the match out. However, the two-time Grand Slam champion saved a match point enroute to breaking the Raducanu serve, before going on to take the second set as Raducanu saw two more match points fly by. The Czech star would breeze to a comfortable third set triumph, leaving the Brit to ponder on what could have been.

Instantly after she had the chance to turn those wrongs into rights at the WTA 1000 event in China. She swept past qualifier Cristina Bucsa ahead of a tie against world number six Jessica Pegula. Similar to her match against Krejcikova, Raducanu won the first set, before reaching a tiebreak in the second. Yet again she failed to put away one of three match points which came her way as the American number two levelled up proceedings before winning the last set 6-0.

It looks like another tough test is awaiting her in the second round in Ningbo, with the number one seed Mirra Andreeva set to play the winner of her tie against Chinese wildcard Lin Zhu.