Emma Raducanu gets honest about last-minute tournament withdrawals ahead of Australian Open

Emma Raducanu will play her first match of the season at the 2025 Australian Open on Tuesday (Jan. 14). She takes on Ekaterina Alexandrova in what will be her first contest since last year's Bille Jean King Cup Finals.

The Brit was originally scheduled to play a warm-up tournament at Auckland, but pulled out at the last-minute due to issues with her back. The withdrawal had drawn criticism from fans, who took note of the youngster's frequent run-ins with injuries.

Elaborating to her delayed start to the season in an interview with The Times, Raducanu said she was being careful as playing a competitive match even with the slightest of niggles could adversely affect her for the rest of the season.

"Something that I probably would have done last year is I would have probably played, but you don’t know what happens in that match," Emma Raducanu said. "You pick up a niggle and it affects your preparation for this week."

Noting that she would have, in all likelihood, played in Auckland had a similar situation arisen a year ago, Raducanu said she had learnt to listen to her body now. She was quick to add that comments and criticism on her schedule choices have stopped bothering her and that she will not be putting herself at risk of playing with an injury.

The former US Open champion went on credit her new team, led by coach Nick Cavaday, for her changed mindset, saying that they are quite firm about the decision on playing or not playing a particular tournament or match.

"I think growing the maturity and discipline to be like this is how I’m going to do it," Emma Raducanu said. "I’m not going to get swayed by comments or anything because I know that there’s a risk of setting myself back and doing big damage to the existing problem right now."

"I think that was where it was really helpful to have Yutaka and Nick [Cavaday, her coach] just telling me how it is, and being quite firm about the decision," she added.

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Emma Raducanu to open her Australian Open campaign against Ekaterina Alexandrova

Emma Raducanu during a practice session ahead of the 2025 Australian Open. (Source: Getty)

Emma Raducanu was recently spotted hitting the practice courts in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open. She has arrived in Melbourne with a new team in place and will be looking to improve on her performance from last year, when she exited in the second round.

The Brit opens her campaign against the big-hitting Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. Her opponent is the 26th seed at this year's tournament.

Raducanu has a 3-3 win-loss record at the season's opening Slam. She had beaten Shelby Rogers in her opener last year but lost to Wang Yafan in the second round.