Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The 21-year-old, who was out injured for much of 2023, says she feels freed of the weight of her US Open triumph as she prepares to make her comeback in Auckland.
Emma Raducanu has said she feels “reborn” as she prepares to make her comeback after ankle and wrist surgeries.
The 21-year-old former US Open champion was sidelined for much of 2023, but she is set to return to action at the Auckland Classic.
“I feel reborn in a way,” Raducanu told reporters ahead of her first-round match.
“I feel fresh, I feel ready, I feel happy and I feel excited.”
READ MORE:Emma Raducanu provides key injury update from her hospital bed
It will be her first tournament since April.
Raducanu is now ranked 298th in the world, having slipped from a career high number 10 in July 2022.
But she said she feels freed of the weight of her Flushing Meadows triumph in 2021, when she became the first player in the Open era to win a major after coming through qualifying.
“Overall, I’m feeling positive and lighter,” the Briton said.
“I think that for two years after the US Open I felt maybe a bit more weight on my shoulders, but now I feel completely fresh.”
Raducanu has previously said she “sometimes” wishes she hadn’t won the US Open as a “naive” 18-year-old.
