Emma Raducanu criticises slippery indoor courts as Australian Open in doubt
Emma Raducanu said it was no surprise she rolled her ankle on the “slippery” indoor courts at the ASB Classic on Thursday night in her match against Viktoria Kuzmova.
The 2021 US Open winner was forced to pull out of the match at the beginning of the third set, having rolled her ankle in the one prior and she left the court in tears. The match was moved to an indoor court because of the rain outside, but unlike all of the outdoor courts, the indoor ones weren’t resurfaced prior to the tournament. All the players this week have said the indoor courts played differently to the outdoor ones, but Raducanu went as far to say they were dangerous to play on and was naturally devastated that her Australian Open plans could be in jeopardy.
“So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle is pretty disappointing, in the first week as well. “I thought I was playing some pretty decent tennis. “The courts are incredibly slick, like very slippery, so to be honest it’s not a surprise that this happened to someone.
“It’s out of my control and after a very long day of waiting around.
“But we’ll assess over the next few days and see what the next steps are.”
Raducanu doesn’t yet know if she’ll be able to play at the Australian Open.
While she said she had enjoyed her time in Auckland, she added that there were aspects of the Classic she wasn’t happy with, although she didn’t elaborate on what they were.
“We’ll assess over the next few days and make a plan,” she said of her injury.
“But Auckland overall, it rained a lot this week, so I didn’t get to see much and I thought maybe certain aspects could have been organised better, but overall I had pleasant support when playing outdoors and the crowd made me feel really welcome and at home.”
Raducanu played brilliant tennis to take the first set 6-0, but lost the second 7-5 and midway through it appeared to roll her ankle.
Before the third set could begin Raducanu needed lengthy treatment on her left ankle.