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If bathing her blistered feet in surgical spirit every day is what it takes, Emma Raducanu will do it as she bids to stop physical issues hampering her tennis.
The 19-year-old Briton’s Billie Jean King Cup debut ended in painful fashion on Saturday when she struggled to move throughout a defeat by Marketa Vondrousova in Great Britain’s 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic in a qualifier.
It was the latest in a series of niggles that have affected the teenager who is seeking to build on her stunning 2021 US Open victory as she navigates her first full year on the tour.
Raducanu, who retired with a leg injury from a lengthy opening-round match in Mexico in February and and struggled with a blister on her racquet hand in her Australian Open second-round defeat in January, said the physical issues were frustrating and she was doing everything she could to overcome them.
“My physio Will is bathing my feet in surgical spirit every day – it’s definitely painful,” Raducanu, who is scheduled to play in Stuttgart next week, told BBC Sport.
“We did it after the match [on Saturday]. I was literally screaming but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and try and get ready for Stuttgart.”
Raducanu also had Covid towards the end of last year and her brilliant run to the Wimbledon fourth round last summer came to an end when she was forced to retire with breathing difficulties, while in October she was “tired and lethargic” in a Transylvania Open quarter-final loss.
Before Friday’s win over Tereza Martincova that had pulled Great Britain level at 1-1 with the Czech Republic in the Billie Jean King Cup tie, Raducanu had won only two matches in 2022.
“Of course it’s frustrating [to be hampered by injuries] for sure, but in some sort of twisted way it gives me a sense of confidence and relief that I don’t think it’s my tennis that’s the issue,” she told a news conference.
“I think my tennis level is pretty good, it’s just about being able to repeat it or maintain it or not be hampered by any kind of physical issues and as soon as I sort all these out and keep building on my tennis level, then I think I will be able to put out good matches back to back.”
Raducanu ‘needs to become more robust’
With Raducanu having ended Britain’s 44-year wait for a women’s Grand Slam singles champion in September, it is easy to forget she is in only her first full year on the tour.
The two matches she played in Prague were her first two at senior level on clay, and the last time she played any match on the surface was four years ago.
Her US Open victory catapulted her up the rankings and she is currently 12th in the world but that is no substitute for the experience that will be gathered by stringing together matches and events week after week across the world in what can be a gruelling calendar.
“For any young player going out there for the very first time, what she has achieved already in her short career has been exceptional but it does take time for a player to get used to life on the tour and become more robust,” her Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong said.
“And she certainly needs to become more robust – I don’t think that’s any secret. She knows it and she’s working on it. The more she puts herself out there, the more she continues to test herself, she’ll figure out a way that works for her.”
Top of the list for Raducanu could be her feet – before the tie in Prague, Raducanu had revealed she had “no toenails” from all the sliding around and on Saturday she said blisters were a recurring issue that she needed to look at “in more detail”.
“I think it’s related to numerous things; I’m going to need to go and evaluate all my options in all sorts of feet scenarios as this has happened quite a few times and we need to nip it in the bud now.”