Emma Raducanu's horror run of injuries has continued, but the British No.1 has recovered in time to play at the Australian Open after injuring herself at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The 20-year-old was in tears as the 2021 US Open champion was forced to withdraw mid-match during the New Zealand lead-up tournament.
The Sporting News has all the latest on Raducanu's status at the first Grand Slam of the season.
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Will Emma Raducanu play in the Australian Open in 2023?
Raducanu was in doubt for the Australian Open but is competing at Melbourne Park after recovering from an ankle injury.
She retired hurt with the score 6-0 5-7 against Viktoria Kuzmova at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
After the match was moved indoors because of inclement weather, Raducanu slipped on the indoor court and appeared to roll her ankle.
The British star subsequently left the court in tears, lashing out at the playing surface as her injury woes continued.
It was Raducanu's first tournament since October after her season ended because of a wrist injury.
Despite this setback, the 2021 US Open champion was prepared for the first round at Melbourne Park, defeating Tamara Korpatsch in straight sets.
She will next face world No. 7 seed Coco Gauff in her second round match.
The 20-year-old credited her team when discussing her return to full fitness.
"In the match, obviously, at the time, you're a bit worried about it. When you just go over, you don't really know what's going on," Raducanu said on Saturday.
"But we've been working very hard. It's been a team effort to get me to this place. We've definitely expedited the process but I'm feeling really good and looking forward to getting out on the court.
"It's just a huge, huge props to my team, really here and back home, who have helped get me to this place."
Was Emma Raducanu set to play in any other lead-up tournaments?
Dependent on her progress at the ASB Classic, Raducanu was a chance to play in the Hobart International from Jan 9-15 - having been marked down as an alternate player for the draw.
However, the world No.78 instead spent the week prior to the Australian Open recuperating from her ankle injury.
What injuries has Emma Raducanu had?
Unfortunately for Raducanu and her fans, the tennis sensation has had an immensely frustrating run of problems since winning US Open 2021.
A blister on her finger led to a painful second-round defeat against Danka Kovinic at Australian Open 2022 in Melbourne, and she retired from her first-round match at a WTA event in Guadalajara the following month with a leg issue.
The 11th seed lost the final two sets of her match against Petra Martic at Indian Wells in March while troubled by a stiff back, and she sustained another blister — this time on her right foot —against Marketa Vondrousova as Great Britain lost to the Czech Republic in the Billie Jean King Cup.
Bianca Andreescu — the only other player to have won the US Open on her debut — was supposed to be her opponent at the Italian Open in May, only for the unfortunate Raducanu to be forced out by a back injury.
Emma Raducanu 🇬🇧 thrashes a poor Vika Azarenka 🇧🇾 6-0 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Cincinnati
— Chris Goldsmith (@TheTennisTalker) August 17, 2022
Fantastic result for Emma who rises to 59th in the WTA Race.
Solid play, nice serving, bit of venom on some shots. Confidence boost pic.twitter.com/noaIgNuDb1
That side strain did little for Raducanu's Wimbledon preparations, although she would still have expected to do better than her straight-sets second-round exit at the hands of Garcia.
Raducanu had appeared to be injury-free and in promising form as she prepared to return to the setting of the most successful two weeks of her early career, although those images showing her discomfort in a practice session did not look encouraging.
Serena Williams was on the verge of retirement but Raducanu's 6-0, 6-4 win over the tennis legend in Cincinnati less than two weeks before US Open 2022 was a memorable way to warm up for the final Grand Slam of the year.
grateful to have shared the court w you serena 🙏 pic.twitter.com/4hGTPhmsyt
— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) August 17, 2022
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Raducanu then beat another former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, before losing to world number eight Jessica Pegula.
"You've made me really aware of my last 12 months," Raducanu told Martina Navratilova after the 18-time Grand Slam singles winner suggested she had "clicked" again by beating Azarenka, speaking on Amazon Prime.
"You're going to have a bad year... so for mine to happen after winning the US Open from qualifying, it's okay and all part of the journey. I'm learning from it."
After being beaten by Alize Cornet in the first round US Open 2022, Raducanu played a few more tournaments before ending her season in October - prior to the Billie Jean King Cup finals - because of a wrist injury.
