Emma Raducanu: I’m a dangerous opponent for anyone at Australian Open

Emma Raducanu declared herself ready to compete with the top players at the Australian Open after recovering from a back spasm.

The 22-year-old pulled out of her scheduled warm-up tournament in Auckland last week with what she described as a back niggle but has been training at Melbourne Park this week.

And Raducanu revealed during her pre-tournament press conference that the source of the problem was a spasm suffered while training in London.

A post shared by Emma. (@emmaraducanu)

“I’ve been feeling good,” she said. “I think the last 10 days I’ve had a positive block of training. Coming back on the court, adapting to the conditions here, has been good for me. Now I feel good and I feel ready to give it my best here.

“One morning I was warming up, bent over to tie my laces, and I had a spasm. That was really it. It took a while to clear. I’ve had them before. They’ve usually settled within a few days. But this one niggled for a couple of weeks. I had to miss quite a bit of training before I left, wasn’t able to play Auckland.”

It was another physical setback for Raducanu, who played only 10 matches last year after Wimbledon, missing two months with a foot injury before recovering in time to play for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup in November.

There she won all her three matches and her confidence has been buoyed by good performances in practice this week.

“I’ve been playing sets with top players,” she said. “I’m feeling like I’m holding my own more than OK in those instances and practices. I feel pretty good with my game. I’m looking forward to putting it on the match court. I think I can be a dangerous opponent for anyone really.”

Raducanu has been handed a difficult draw against 26th seed Ekaterina