© Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Emma Raducanu jokes she won’t be a hand model as the British tennis star describes the scars on her body as “battle wounds.” In May, Raducanu surgically addressed injuries to both of her wrists, as well as her right ankle injury.
Eight months later, Raducanu is back to being fully healthy and competing again. While Raducanu’s wrists and right ankle are doing great now, the surgery scars are still there.
While the scar on Raducanu’s right ankle is covered by socks or shoes, the scars on the 21-year-old’s wrists can be seen pretty well.
“They are battle wounds. I guess I won’t be a hand model but I can throw that career away,” Raducanu said in Melbourne.
“But they’re healing nicely and they look a lot better now. So it’s just part of the journey. When I’m like 80 I can show everyone ‘These are the battle scars!'”
Raducanu ‘feared’ the wrist pain would never go away
After Raducanu returned to the court in August and started hitting softer balls designed for children, she experienced pain in her wrist for the first eight or nine days. Then, Raducanu started “worrying that I was always going to feel pain in my wrist.” In late November, Raducanu started hitting the balls again and this time it went well, without experiencing any pain.
When Raducanu announced in May that she was undergoing multiple surgeries, it was not surprising news at all. For over a year, Raducanu was battling constant injuries and physical setbacks. Mostly, Raducanu was troubled by her wrists and it didn’t help when she sustained an ankle injury in the first week of the 2023 season in Auckland.
After returning to tennis at the start of the 2024 season, Raducanu revealed more details about her past injuries and the decision to have three surgeries. When revealing more details, Raducanu said she was in constant pain and discomfort, which made it very hard for her to train and that led to her entering matches unprepared and ultimately not doing well in tournaments. Also, Raducanu said that way before undergoing surgeries, she knew she would need to surgically repair the damage in her wrists and ankle.
After making an encouraging return to tennis in Auckland, Raducanu is preparing for her Grand Slam comeback at the Australian Open. In her opening match in her third Australian Open campaign, Raducanu will be taking on Shelby Rogers.
