(Tennis news) Emma Raducanu has sparked new injury fears after pulling out of an exhibition match in the Eisenhower Cup where she was due to play a doubles match with Cameron Norrie. The British tennis star is scheduled to face Danka Kovinic in the opening round of the Indian Wells on Thursday which will be her first match since January’s Australian Open. The 20 year old has suffered many injuries in the last few years and was forced to end her 2022 season due to a wrist injury and recovered from an ankle injury before the Australian Open.

Raducanu was knocked out in the 2nd round of the Australian Open by Coco Gauff and went on to take a break from professional tennis to focus on her fitness. She then suffered from tonsillitis which ruled her out of the inaugural ATX Open in Austin on February 26 and has faced a race against time to be fit enough to compete at the Indian Wells. The British player has also had five different coaches and is currently working with Sebastian Sachs, who previously coached Belinda Bencic to Olympic gold and has previously worked with former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka and Germany’s Julia Gorges.

Jez Green, Andy Murray’s former trainer has also worked with Raducanu during the off-season and former Olympic champion Monica Puig believes it’s important for the 20 year old to have a settled team in order to achieve her future goals. Puig said “Not necessarily big ones because she won that Grand Slam title, but she hasn’t been able to string many results together in a row. Let go of the expectation after winning a Grand Slam.

“First, it’s small goals such as quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals consistently of 250 events. Maybe win a couple more matches in a row and work on things on the court. See your opponents. What are they doing to you? Where are the holes in my game and start filling in those holes by practising more on those things. It can take the pressure off her back.”

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