The strain on Emma Raducanu continues to show as she gave a blunt 58-word press conference ahead of the Madrid Open.
The 2021 US Open winner continues to struggle with poor form and a catalogue of injury problems that are hampering her development.
Raducanu gave frosty answers to 16 questions from journalists ahead of the Masters 1000 event, one of the biggest tournaments in the lead up to the French Open.
There were various questions ranging from her wrist injury to the encouraging form of her friend Jodie Burrage.
The longest answer was a 14-word reply to a question about her performances at Indian Wells and Miami.
“Yeah, it was a good trip in America,” she said. “Tough match [against Bianca Andreescu in Miami]. But, yeah, moving on.”
Many of her answers were one word responses, and a journalist even asked if she was deliberately making the interview hard to conduct. She replied: “No.”
The WTA moderator eventually stepped in to cut the press conference short.
An explanation for her frosty reception perhaps came on Wednesday as it was announced she had withdrawn from the Madrid Open with a hand injury.
Raducanu, who was due to start her campaign against lucky loser Viktoriya Tomova on Wednesday afternoon, will now drop out of the world’s top 100 for the first time since her 2021 US Open triumph.
The tournament’s official Twitter account posted: “@EmmaRaducanu withdraws from the Mutua Madrid Open due to injury in her right hand.”
