MELBOURNE – US Open champion Emma Raducanu today pulled out of an Australian Open warm-up tournament next week as she continues to recover from coronavirus.
The 19-year-old Briton was due to line up alongside defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka and former world number one Simona Halep at the Melbourne Summer Set WTA event from Tuesday.
But after practicing at Melbourne Park on Saturday she opted out, having tested positive for Covid-19 before an Abu Dhabi exhibition last month and then spent time in isolation.
“The timing to compete in the first Melbourne event this week is too soon for me, having just returned from isolation,” she said in a brief statement. “Look forward to seeing you to compete later this month.”
Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam since Virginia Wade in 1977 when she triumphed at Flushing Meadows, but has struggled to find the same form since then.
She has been working with new coach Torben Beltz ahead of what will be her first full season on the WTA Tour.
French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will also miss the Melbourne event after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week, casting doubt on whether she will be fit for the Australian Open.
Ranked at a career-high 11, the Russian made her first Grand Slam final in June, losing to Barbora Krejcikova at Roland Garros. – AFP, January 1, 2022
