British tennis superstar Emma Raducanu is gearing up for a big 2025 season after being thwarted again by injuries in 2024.
Raducanu began her 2025 campaign at the Australian Open where she reached the third round, losing to Iga Swiatek in straight sets.
The British No 2 returned to action at the Singapore Open where she lost a gruelling three-hour battle to world No 101 Cristina Bucsa from Spain in the first round.
Raducanu, speaking to ESPN after that Singapore Open defeat to Bucsa…
“I have the positives [from] this week, coming here on my own with Yutaka [Nakamura, fitness coach] and my mum, but I’m really proud of how I dealt and handled myself this week.
“I feel okay. I feel like I have certain things we all manage as the year goes on. I think it’s pretty early in the season.
“For me to be playing this kind of match, all I need is time on court and a match-competitive situation, which I got. I got it in abundance – over three hours of it – so, for me, it’s really valuable because every match I play, I feel like it’s a win.
“And I fought really hard. I gave everything. So I just got to keep building and moving on.”
After the Singapore Open (January 27-February 2), the WTA Tour heads to Abu Dhabi (February 2-8) and Doha (February 9-15), where Raducanu was knocked out in the early rounds of both 2024 tournaments.
If her ranking fails to get her into Abu Dhabi (a 32-player field) or she opts not to enter qualifying then Raducanu could play at the Transylvania Open (February 3-9) where she last played in 2021, reaching the quarter-finals.
The WTA schedule has been set for the rest of the year, with the Grand Slam dates locked in for the French Open (May 25-June 8), Wimbledon (June 30-July 13) and the US Open (August 25-September 7).
Raducanu is ranked No 56 in the world (as of January 28) although it is some way off her career-high ranking of 10, which she held back in July 2022.
Lauran Robson and Tim Henman discuss the impact Raducanu’s new fitness trainer will have and how it can improve her physical resilience
Raducanu is searching for another coach after Nick Cavaday ended their partnership because of health issues.
She has been criticised in the past for chopping and changing coaches regularly and in particular the decision not to stick with Andrew Richardson after he guided her to the US Open title in 2021.
But this time the split is not from her side and comes at a frustrating time after she appeared to have a solid team around her following the hiring of fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura.
Nakamura has worked with numerous top players, including Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka.
“I think he is going to help me just really explore how far I can go athletically,” said Raducanu, who had previously cited a desire to keep her team small as a reason for not hiring a full-time fitness trainer and relying on Lawn Tennis Association staff.
“It’s a big strength of mine that I have nowhere near fulfilled. I think I can become one of the best athletes out there in tennis and I’m just looking forward to seeing how much I can do.”
Highlights of the Stuttgart Open quarter-final between Raducanu and Iga Swiatek in April
Raducanu had broadly positive results after returning from an eight-month injury lay-off in 2023, where her season ended early following a first-round exit in Stuttgart.
She helped steer Great Britain to a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals as they beat home favourites France on clay, and carried on that form into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix back in Stuttgart in April, only to lose to Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
Her victory over Marie Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi before being denied a spot in the quarter-finals by Ons Jabeur was a bright moment, but she struggled for consistency, failing to win any back-to-back matches until reaching the third round of Indian Wells.
Highlights of Raducanu’s straight-sets victory against Marie Bouzkova at the Abu Dhabi Open in February
Raducanu was impressive on grass in 2024, reaching the semi-final in Nottingham – where she was beaten by fellow Brit Katie Boulter – and then the round of 16 at Wimbledon following standout wins over Elise Mertens and ninth seed Maria Sakkari, before being halted by qualifier Lulu Sun.
At the Citi Open in Washington DC, Raducanu narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot after losing to Paula Badosa, but was then disappointingly knocked out in the opening round of the US Open by Sofia Kenin in a battle of former Grand Slam champions in New York.
At the Korea Open, Raducanu battled hard to beat top-50 players Peyton Stearns and Yue Yuan en route to the quarter-finals, and finished with renewed momentum with Team GB at the Billie Jean King Cup.
Raducanu won 20 of the 33 matches she played in 2024 and ended the season ranked 59 in the world.
The 2021 US Open champion was sidelined with a foot injury for two months but went unbeaten in the Billie Jean King Cup in Malaga in November.
Find out all the ways to watch tennis on Sky Sports, including the US Open, ATP and WTA tours
Raducanu was forced to withdraw from the Miami Open due to a lower back injury after being awarded a wild card for the event.
She was also hampered by a stomach bug during her loss at the first major of the year, the Australian Open, but her tennis was encouraging and she stepped up her comeback with victory over Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi.
Raducanu sat out the second major of the year, withdrawing just 24 hours before French Open qualifying was due to begin, in a bid to give herself a “chance to keep fit for the rest of the year.”
My main goal is to stay healthy injury-wise, sickness-wise. Also another goal is consistency.
But an untimely slip in the deciding set of her last-16 clash with Sun at Wimbledon halted Raducanu’s momentum. She received treatment on her lower left leg and the middle of her back, but slumped to defeat just as she seemed to be finding her best form.
Having recovered from surgeries in 2023, Raducanu continued to manage injury risk, deciding against representing Team GB at the Paris Olympics because she did not want to switch back to playing on clay at Roland Garros ahead of the hard court tournaments in the USA.
At the Korea Open in September, Raducanu retired in the quarter-finals after straining foot ligaments, but she did return – with promise – in Malaga to raise optimism for 2025.
Martina Navratilova believes Raducanu should take ownership of her tennis career as she answers fans questions
So far, the 2021 US Open victory remains Raducanu’s sole victory in a major tournament.
She reached the fourth round in Wimbledon that year – a feat she matched in 2024 and might have bettered were it not for injury – but at the Australian and French Opens, she has never progressed beyond the second round.
Tennis fans can enjoy coverage from the ATP and WTA Tours again in 2025, with all the action streamed on Sky Sports+. Find out more here.
