Emma Raducanu spoke of finally being pain free as she began her Australian Open campaign with an impressive 6-3 6-2 defeat of American Shelby Rogers on Tuesday.The 21-year-old Briton won the 2021 U.S.
Open in stunning fashion as a qualifier but struggled for form in 2022 and suffered an injury-ravaged 2023 in which she was sidelined since April.A year ago in Melbourne she managed to win a round just weeks after surgery to have a cyst removed from her knee and later in the year needed a wrist operation.But the way she moved around the court and struck the ball against Rogers, augurs well for a rapid climb back up the rankings from her current 296."(Last year) I travelled here on a wheelchair," she told reporters. "I only started hitting three days before the match.
That whole process was a lot of stress. We weren't sure if I was going to be able to play here."I think this year and now there's just a lot more calm.
It's amazing to be pain-free with the wrists. I honestly didn't know if I'd ever get to this stage."I had pain for so long. I was playing since before the U.S.