Emma Raducanu well placed to move forward under glaring spotlight

As one of the most unexpected recent breakout seasons came to an end in November, Emma Raducanu seemed to have built a solid base for the new year. After the grand slam success, the first round of new endorsements, the questions over her coaching choices and the predictable dip in form as her life changed for ever, Raducanu closed off her year by hiring an experienced, well-regarded coach, Torben Beltz, to guide her through her next steps of her young career.

With the off-season beckoning, Raducanu frequently spoke about her goal of improving her physical strength and fitness in order to address the gap between herself and the chiselled, grown athletes she will now face every week. As she navigates so many first-time experiences under a glaring spotlight, a complicated second season was always on the cards but Raducanu had positioned herself well.

However, not everything can be accounted for. In the middle of December, Raducanu tested positive for Covid-19 before she was due to compete in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi. While she was one of a number of players to contract Covid then, her recovery has seemingly taken the longest. Rafael Nadal won a title in Melbourne a few weeks later, Denis Shapovalov was back in action shortly afterwards. Raducanu, meanwhile, says it took 20 days until she began training at a decent intensity and she is still pacing herself back to full fitness.

“It’s a challenge to try and find the balance of wanting to get out there and practice so much straight after coming out of isolation, but if you ever do it with the hours after not doing anything for 20 days, you always start picking up small niggles,” she said during the Australian Open media day on Saturday. “I’m just trying to find that