See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy MATTHEW LAMBWELL, TENNIS REPORTER Published: 13:24 BST, 27 June 2026 | Updated: 14:29 BST, 27 June 2026
Emma Raducanu cut her practice session short at Wimbledon, raising fears over her physical condition ahead of the Championships.The British No 1 was practicing for the first time at Wimbledon since Monday and initially did an hour with coach Andrew Richardson and hitting partner Alexis Canter, with her lower right leg strapped. She got through that OK, although did pause to receive treatment from her physio Emma Stewart, and then had another hour booked in on No 3 Court with No 19 seed Anna Kalinskaya.The Russian was leading their practice set 4-0 when Raducanu shook her head to coach Richardson and ended the session with 10 minutes to go, receiving a hug from Kalinskaya.Raducanu, due to face Croat world No 60 Antonia Ruzic on Monday, is managing an issue which was exacerbated during her run to the final at Queen's Club at the start of June. Emma Raducanu was seen with her lower leg strapped up during practice on SaturdayShe has not played since, deciding against playing Eastbourne and Nottingham, and her name had not appeared on the Wimbledon practice schedule since Monday.That does not rule out the fact that she may have practiced elsewhere but she was spotted wearing a protective boot on her right foot when leaving the All England Club on Wednesday evening.There was certainly nothing wrong with Raducanu's ballstriking in her two practice sessions today, but she was not moving completely freely and seemed to not be bending as low down to the ball as usual.The 23-year-old had a superb start to her grass court season when she reached the final of the HSBC Championships at Queen's Club, losing to Donna Vekic. She did not look at her best physically during that 6-0, 7-6 defeat and said afterwards: 'I have just been dealing with a few niggles over the past few weeks.'Raducanu was down to play Nottingham last week but withdrew, then declined the option of taking a wildcard into this week's Eastbourne Open.Her season has been severely disrupted, by a viral illness mainly, more than by injury, and she played only 16 matches this year before that run at Queen's.But a series of sparkling performances there - and her rehiring of Richardson, the coach who guided her to the US Open title in 2021 - raised expectations ahead of Wimbledon.
