Emma Raducanu must become more robust, says Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong

Emma Raducanu «must become more robust» if she is to thrive at the top of the women's game, believes Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong. As a result of a foot blister, Raducanu's movement was severely compromised during her heavy 6-1, 6-1 singles rubber defeat to Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday, a result that contributed to GB's 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic in Prague that saw them fail to qualify for the event's finals in November. Ad/> That injury followed other problems to afflict the 19-year-old during the past year, which have included a hand blister at January's Australian Open and a back complaint at Indian Wells.

Billie Jean King Cup SinglesGB miss out on BJK Cup finals after losing to Czech Republic10 HOURS AGO Keothavong said the problems are reflective of Raducanu's requirement to work on her conditioning following her stunning breakout year in 2021. «Before the match, we were aware she had a blister but it got progressively worse for her during the match,» Keothavong said. «There was no indication of anything that said to us that she couldn't play or that she wasn't ready to go out there and give it her absolute best.

Becker: Alcaraz will be world No. 1 if he carries on at this rate I had to put my soul out there, says Tsitsipas after cruising past Zverev »It does take time for a player to get used to life on the tour and become more robust, and she certainly needs to become more robust. I don't think that's any secret and she's working on it.

/> Raducanu also spoke in the aftermath of her loss to Vondrousova, saying: «It completely stopped me from moving. It is very disappointing when you’re out there playing a rubber for your country and you feel completely redundant. »Of course