Emma Raducanu has taken her first steps back towards a comeback after her latest injury lay-off, but the tennis landscape she is about to rejoin looks very different than it did when she was last in action.
We need to go back to mid-June for Raducanu’s last appearance on a tennis court, with the 2021 US Open champion turning it her best performance in recent years as she stormed into the final of the WTA 500 tournament at the Queen’s Club in London.
The impressive TV viewing figures for her final against Donna Vekic and the huge attention that match attracted confirmed Raducanu still has huge star power despite her lack of success on court over the last five years.
Sadly, that run at Queen’s also cemented Raducanu’s reputation as a player who struggles to cope with the physical demands of the game.
Shortly after that tournament, Raducanu felt discomfort in her leg and it was confirmed she sustained a stress fracture that ruled her out of Wimbledon and the US Open.
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Now she is threatening to make a comeback, with images of her hitting balls at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre in London posted on his social media account in recent days.
The challenge for Raducanu is set to be huge as while she will gain entry into some elite events by using her protected ranking, the harsh realities of her latest long lay-off will be reflected in the updated WTA Rankings on Monday.
Raducanu is ranked down at No 89 in the live WTA Rankings and that would not be good enough to get into plenty of WTA 1000 events.
If she slides out of the top 100, she may be faced with the prospect of qualifying for Grand Slam events, with the 23-year-old starting from a low base as she looks to get back on court.
Her name is on the list of players set to play in the China Open at the end of this month, but history tells us that she doesn’t always play in the first tournament she enters after a long injury break.
There will be alternative tournaments on the Asian swing of the WTA Tour that could provide a stage for Raducanu to get some matches in before this latest challenging season comes to an end, with the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan another option for Raducanu.
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The challenge she may face will be adapting to the conditions in China, as she struggled badly with the heat in Wuhan last year and it may be a tough location for her to mount a comeback.
Most observers expected Raducanu to take the rest of 2026 off before trying to kick-start her career in the New Year, but it seems she is eyeing up a return a little sooner.
The tennis world has moved on without Raducanu in recent months and she will have much to prove when she gets back on court
