Emma Raducanu left an All England Club practice session early on Saturday, fuelling doubts about her fitness just 48 hours before her Wimbledon opener. The British number one, scheduled to play on Court No. 1 on Monday, has not disclosed the nature of the issue.
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The alarm comes at a tense moment. Last week at Queen's Club, Raducanu suffered a bruising defeat in the final against Donna Vekić, 6-0, 7-6(6). The opening set, wrapped up in under thirty minutes by the Croatian, exposed a glaring lack of match rhythm from the Briton. The second set, tighter and more competitive, offered glimpses of the 2021 US Open champion's talent, but not enough to change the outcome.
Raducanu's body tells a story the 23-year-old would rather not hear. Since her surprise triumph at Flushing Meadows in 2021, physical setbacks have followed with alarming regularity. Her 2025 season ended prematurely in October, cut short by illness and recurring back problems. The work with fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, which began in December 2024, was designed to build a body capable of lasting a full season.
The question is not whether Raducanu will play on Monday. She will. Ranked world No. 31, buoyed by a British crowd that holds her in special affection, she has no intention of missing Wimbledon. The real question is what physical shape she will be in when she steps onto the London grass.
Her game, when her body cooperates, remains a formidable weapon on grass. Her two-handed backhand, described as "world class" by Anne Keothavong, gains effectiveness on fast surfaces. Her serve, capable of reaching 177 km/h, can deliver crucial clean holds. But these weapons only function at full capacity, and the slightest physical discomfort strips Raducanu of the explosiveness that underpins her game.
The All England Club will be firmly behind her. The Wimbledon crowd has not forgotten the young Briton's run in 2021, qualifying at 18 for the fourth round before withdrawing with breathing difficulties. That fragility is part of her story, but at 23, Raducanu needs to show she can convert potential into consistent results. Wimbledon, a stage of every emotion, will be the arena for that proof, or its limits.
