Emma Raducanu’s hopes of competing at this year’s Wimbledon Championships have been hit by yet another injury scare, with rumours circulating that she is struggling to be fit to play in her home Grand Slam.
Raducanu enjoyed her best performances of 2026 as she reached the final of the WTA 500 event at the Queen’s Club earlier this month, with her prowess on grass highlighted once again with some impressive performances in front of her British fans.
Yet rumours emerged in recent days suggesting Raducanu is nursing some kind of foot or leg problem and even though he team have insisted she will be fit to play, the 23-year-old was forced to skip practice on Thursday.
Missing Wimbledon would be a savage blow to Raducanu, who pulled out of the Nottingham Open after her strong run at Queen’s and has not played a competitive match since then.
There were some suggestions that she may play in Eastbourne this week, but now her British fans will be waiting to hear the news of whether she will be fit to play at Wimbledon.
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Raducanu’s story has been dominated by fitness issues since she won the US Open in 2021, with a host of problems affecting her ambitions since then.
Her biggest concern this year has been what was described as an ‘ongoing virus’ that kept her out of the game for several weeks.
The Brit’s encouraging return at the Queen’s Club suggested she might have turned a corner, but now there are suggestions her latest injury may scupper her hopes.
Raducanu’s reunion with the coach Andrew Richardson, who guided her to that US Open win was seen a positive step for Raducanu, with Wimbledon set to be the first Grand Slam they would work together on since that success in New York almost five years ago.
And she has received the backing of one of her former coaches, with Mark Petchey convinced she can achieve success.
“I love Emma to bits,” said Petchey on Sky Sports
“I’ll take a bullet for her. I think her situation is so unique. I don’t envy her life, being judged every single week on a result that happened five years ago, that was an amazing story, was an absolute fairy tale.
“She’s a hell of a tennis player. But it’s challenging because, if you don’t win another one, it’s deemed a sub-optimal outcome.
“And I think, for her, it’s been a very hard process to grow up as an 18-year-old, in the glare of the spotlight, with everything that came – everyone would have done the same, but they say they wouldn’t have done the same. That’s the thing that I find really hard, the cognitive dissonance from people.
“She can win another one for sure, I’ve always believed that about her. If she can find a way to just do the ordinary in an extraordinary way, every single day, and not look for a shortcut back to where she was in ’21, she’ll be fine.”
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Petchey also praised the reunion with Richardson as he added: “There’s so many things I love about it. We obviously had a conversation because my situation was never really going to change and she needed to find somebody.
“And I think going back to what she remembers as an amazing time of her life is perfect, and I think it will be very positive for her. I think they will have a great relationship.
“I also think that it was necessary almost for both of them, to have this time again, because there’s so many people that said she should never have got rid of Andrew. Even if it doesn’t work, at least you can cross that off the list.”
READ MORE: Emma Raducanu’s team respond after she’s seen leaving Wimbledon in an orthopaedic boot