Emma Raducanu faces a race to be at full fitness for Wimbledon after her preparations for the tournament were disrupted by injury.
On Wednesday evening Raducanu was seen by Clay magazine leaving the All England Club wearing a protective boot on her right foot after not practising that day. She had been scheduled to train at midday on Thursday but did not practise for a second successive day.
Raducanu’s representatives confirmed later that she has been managing a niggle since her run to the final at the Queen’s Club this month. She has not competed in the two tournament weeks since that event.
Things had appeared to be going well for Raducanu at the start of the grass court season. Her run to the final at Queen’s Club marked just her second, and biggest, final since winning the US Open in 2021 and she had played some of the best tennis of her career en route, defeating two top-20 players in Sorana Cirstea and Iva Jovic. Although each of her five matches ended in straight sets, and none of those matches were particularly gruelling, Raducanu played her quarter-final and semi-final on the same day because of rain earlier in the tournament.
That run had come after an extremely difficult first half of the season with yet more injury struggles. Raducanu had been sidelined for most of the off season with a foot injury and she was far from her best level in January. She then contracted a virus in February, which eventually led to her being ruled out for two months between March and May.
Raducanu had not won a match for three months coming into the Queen’s Club tournament but she found her form on the grass, her favourite surface, and in front of a booming home crowd, a result that seemed to set her on the right path. However, she has struggled to remain fit throughout her career and this is merely the latest example of her positive momentum on the practice court being affected by Wimbledon.
This is also not the first time Raducanu has struggled with injury before Wimbledon. She was forced to withdraw from the championships in 2023 after undergoing surgery to both of her wrists and her ankle, and she then struggled with back pain in the buildup to Wimbledon 2024. She was also managing back pain in the buildup to Wimbledon last year.
Raducanu will be seeded 30 at Wimbledon this year if she is able to compete. The draw ceremony takes place at 10am on Friday.
Elsewhere, Jack Draper continued his encouraging return to form by reaching the semi-finals in Eastbourne with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.
Draper is competing for the first time in over two months after being sidelined for most of the past year due to a bone bruise in his left arm and then knee tendonitis. However, he has found his form quickly in Eastbourne under the tutelage of Andy Murray, who has joined his team as a coach.
It was not clear if Draper would be ready physically for Eastbourne and Wimbledon after his decision to withdraw from Queen’s Club last week but things have gone about as well as they possibly could this week, with Draper performing at a high level, closing out his wins efficiently and looking healthy after his three matches. He will next face Ugo Humbert, the sixth seed, on Friday.
Three British men have qualified for Wimbledon for the first time in 26 years after Oliver Tarvet, Max Basing and Billy Harris each reached the main draw by winning their third matches of the week in Roehampton.
Tarvet, who faced Carlos Alcaraz in the second round last year, became just the third British player to qualify for Wimbledon in back-to-back years by defeating Stefanos Sakellaridis 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. Harris returned to the main draw with a 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-3 win over Zhou Yi and Basing overcame Rémy Bertola 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
