Emma Raducanu provides fitness update on eve of Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu plans to take to the court for her Wimbledon opener on Monday as she battles another injury setback.

The British number one’s preparations for her home grand slam have been hit by a right lower leg problem that was exacerbated by her run to the final at Queen’s Club two weeks ago.

“I’m going to do everything with my team in terms of treatment,” said Raducanu, who is scheduled first on Court One on Monday at 1pm against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic.

“That’s the plan right now, to play. I have a lower leg niggle that I’ve been dealing with since before Queen’s, actually from the back end of the clay-court season.

“Queen’s, during that week, was a lot of load for me. Five matches after having not competed for a while. But I’m just managing it with my team as best as I possibly can, exhausting all options and doing what we can.”

The alarm was raised when Raducanu was reportedly spotted wearing a protective boot on Wednesday.

She did not take to the practice courts until Saturday, when she cut short a session against Russian Anna Kalinskaya after moving gingerly and losing four games in a row.

All eyes were on Raducanu during her session with hitting partner Alexis Canter on Sunday morning, and she came through that well enough to give her hope of taking part in the tournament.

“Yesterday I played for an hour before playing with Anna,” added the 23-year-old, who again wore strapping on her leg.

“I think everyone knows I took a few days off, I didn’t practise. The first session I was just a little bit tentative, I’d say, hesitant. Today I did feel better on the court, so that’s a positive sign.”

Raducanu was all smiles during practice despite yet another setback, and ahead of her most important tournament of the season.

It has been another disrupted year, with the former US Open champion hampered by a foot problem in pre-season and then sidelined for two-and-a-half months with a post-viral illness in the spring.

“It’s been tricky,” said Raducanu. “I had a great week at Queen’s. All I want to do is to keep building on that momentum.

“I’ve had a tough start to the season, a lot of time out. I think hearing and feeling this is difficult.

“I have great people around me. I think that’s one thing that’s really been helping in this latest setback. Having their support, they’re really in it with me. It means a lot to have that.

“There are certain tournaments you’re willing to do more for, put yourself on the line more for, risk more for. For me, of course, Wimbledon is that. I think I probably pushed beyond anything that I would for any other tournament.

“I don’t think anyone can tell me I’m not going to make it worse. I just have to be aware of the risks I’m taking stepping out on to the court, weighing up if I’m willing to do that.”