Emma Raducanu ‘managing’ back issue in the lead up to Italian Open

Emma Raducanu says that she is still “managing” the back issue she sustained last week in Madrid and the various niggles that have come with her first season on tour as she prepares for the Italian Open to begin on Monday.

“I think it’s just coming from a lot of intensity and overload,” Raducanu said. “My back, I’m managing it. Like it’s fine. But it’s just trying to adapt again to the long matches, to the intensity. I think that all of the small sort of niggles I’m getting, they’re all related and connected to each other, when something is overcompensating perhaps. Yeah, we’ll see.”

Raducanu had earlier played out a practice set with Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the shadow of Rome’s vast Court Centrale. Between points, she and Iain Bates, the Lawn Tennis Association’s head of women’s tennis, discussed technique and tactics but along with her longtime physio, Tom Cornish. They also constantly laughed together after wild misses and spectacular winners alike.

Their jovial mood starkly contrasted with the impassive demeanour of Kudermetova and her husband-coach, Sergei Demekhine, across the net, but even through the laughter it was noticeable how many times Raducanu reached for her back. She may not be fully fit, but one of the realities of professional tennis is that most players are carrying some sort of niggle. She plays on.

Raducanu arrives in Rome having performed above expectations so far in her first clay court season, winning two matches in both Stuttgart and Madrid. This is Raducanu’s first time seeing the picturesque Foro Italico – uncomfortably once known as Foro Mussolini – and the courts themselves will be a different challenge altogether. Stuttgart, played indoors on courts infused with oil, and Madrid,