"I was on a scooter... there was an element of doubt" - Emma Raducanu opens up on her injury ordeal; admits she wasn't sure she'd play again

Emma Raducanu opened up on her wrist and ankle surgeries that she underwent last year, which left her on a mobility scooter for some time. The Brit also claimed that she was previously doubtful about her 2024 comeback.

Raducanu has put together somewhat respectable results on the WTA Tour this year. The 21-year-old has won nine of her 16 matches thus far and the highlight of her 2024 season came at the Stuttgart Open in April as she reached the quarterfinals, eventually losing to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

Ranked at a lowly 209 in the WTA rankings, Emma Raducanu had to forego her French Open campaign and is currently preparing for the grasscourt season. Ahead of her first match at the Nottingham Open, she spoke to the Telegraph about her injury woes.

At this time last year, the 2021 US Open champion had called curtains on her 2023 season to undergo surgery on both of her wrists and an ankle. She recounted having trouble getting around, before expressing gratitude at being physically fit again.

"I think it’s very easy for me to lose sight of where I was exactly a year ago because it is pretty much a year ago to this day, to this month," Emma Raducanu told the Telegraph. "You want more and more and more. But a year ago I was on a scooter, scooting around and I didn’t know [whether she would play again]… of course there was an element of doubt. So to be healthy, I need to cherish it."

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Emma Raducanu: "Pretty surreal... it’s very difficult to just shut your body down"

Emma Raducanu looks on at the 2024 Qatar Open

Emma Raducanu further narrated her experience after multiple surgeries on her wrist and ankle. She admittedly struggled during her injury layoff considering her active lifestyle before it.

"It was pretty surreal because obviously I couldn’t be on crutches because I’d had two wrist surgeries," Raducanu said. "So I had a cast on one hand – I’d timed it so I didn’t have two casts at the same time, obviously – a splint on the other and then my ankle was also pretty much immobilised, in a splint with stitches and everything.'

"So I would just scooter around with one knee. As someone who is so active it’s very difficult to just shut your body down," she added.

Raducanu will play her first pro-tour match in nearly two months at this week's Nottingham Open. Having received a wildcard entry into the WTA 250 event, she will open her campaign against Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara later on Tuesday, June 11.