Emma Raducanu has renewed calls for the WTA to introduce a uniform tennis ball “at least for every stroke”, claiming the constant change from week to week contributed to her decision to skip the French Open.
As she prepared to return to the lawn in Nottingham on Tuesday, Raducanu said she was grateful to be “feeling healthy” as she was “on a mobility scooter this time a year ago”.
The 21-year-old Briton is still recovering from double wrist and ankle surgery last year, which left her fearing for her career.
She said she chose to prioritize her switch to grass over playing at Roland Garros, in part because “the balls are so heavy during the grass season” and she wanted to get used to the feeling.
The 2021 US Open champion reported the regular use of different tennis balls on tour earlier this year, adding to the growing number of players expressing concerns that it increases the risk of injury.
‘Players get the short end of the stick’
“It was important for me to take the time to transition to the grass because the balls are heavy during the grass season,” Raducanu said. “I feel like the conditions on the grass courts are just getting slower and slower. Especially since I had undergone wrist surgery myself, I just had to prioritize the transition.
“I think wrists are always very vulnerable and I think especially with how the tour is now, and the fact that we have to change the ball pretty much every week, and they don’t regulate the ball.”
She added: “I’m not the only one with wrist problems. I’m probably the one who’s had them the most publicly. So I think for me it’s definitely a factor where I have to miss certain events because the conditions or the balls just aren’t favorable in my situation.
“And it’s difficult because they’re trying to make the points longer and make the tennis more interesting. But I think players are getting the short end of the stick in that sense and hopefully something can be done about that.”
Raducanu has been preparing for Tuesday’s match by playing with tournament number 1 Ons Jabeur, who is fresh from her quarter-final defeat to Coco Gauff at Roland Garros.
The Tunisian told reporters that Raducanu was “practicing very well” and “hitting big shots.”
Raducanu said Jabeur had provided a useful gauge of where her form was. “I played well,” she said of their hit.
Raducanu said Nottingham had a “special place” in her heart as she made her WTA debut here in 2021. Although she lost 6-3, 6-4 to compatriot Harriet Dart, the quality she showed ensured coach Nigel Sears petitions Wimbledon for a wildcard. The rest is history. Raducanu reached the fourth round at the All England Club before retiring injured and went on to win at Flushing Meadows.
“If I hadn’t gotten that wild card, who knows what would have happened or if the US would have happened too?” she thought. “So I think life is a compilation of butterfly effects and little moments where you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I’m really looking forward to being back and playing in front of my home crowd. Obviously being back here and having won the US Open is different than before, but in a good way, with a lot of support.”
Raducanu, ranked 209th in the world after her eight months on the sidelines last year, will play Ena Shibahara, the world number 274 from Japan, on Tuesday. Shibahara went through two qualifying rounds to reach the main draw.
Raducanu said she felt as strong as she ever had, and now had “no fear whatsoever” regarding her wrists. A short break in Scotland, where she visited Drummond Castle and ran around Gleneagles, had helped her to ‘recharge’.
“I haven’t been to Scotland much,” she said. “I think I went for grade 2 [tournament] when I was ten. But it was great to see the change of scenery and it being so close. And honestly, I was so glad I went because I saw some of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.
‘I’m really in the right place’
“Physically, physically, I feel very healthy. I feel very strong. I have been doing a great job with my trainer over the last few months since the surgery. I’m in a really good place. I think my wrists are actually in a better position than ever before. So there is no doubt or fear.”
Raducanu concluded by saying she had to remind herself to be grateful for her predicament 12 months ago when she was on a mobility scooter following wrist and ankle surgery.
“It was quite surreal because obviously I couldn’t walk on crutches because I had had two wrist surgeries,” she recalls. “So I had a cast on one hand – I timed it so that obviously I didn’t have two casts at the same time – a splint on the other and then my ankle was pretty much immobilized as well, in a splint with stitches and everything.
“So I just scootered around on one knee. As someone who is so active, it’s very difficult to just shut down your body.
“I think it’s very easy for me to lose track of where I was exactly a year ago because it’s been pretty much a year to this day, to this month. You get so caught up in your own world. You want more and more and more.
“But a year ago I was riding around on a scooter and I didn’t know it [whether she would play again]…of course there was an element of doubt. So to be healthy, I have to nurture it.”
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
