Emma Raducanu's spectacular achievement in becoming the first qualifier ever to win the US Open in 2021 proved the precursor to a year in which the prodigy has been plagued by injury problems.
The teenager's meteoric rise was immediately hampered in January when Raducanu contracted COVID-19 before the Australian Open, and she expressed relief to have played at the French Open in May following a succession of physical issues.
The British No.1's luck failed to improve before Wimbledon, when she withdrew from the Nottingham Open during her first-round match with a side injury and missed the subsequent Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.
She was beaten by Caroline Garcia in the second round at the All England Club and, just days ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year, she was photographed apparently in tears during a practice session, with suggestions that a recurring problem with blisters on her racquet hand had again appeared.
Is Emma Raducanu playing at the US Open 2022?
Raducanu was named in the women's singles draw for the 2022 US Open, where she was seeded 11th.
Emma Raducanu's next match
Raducanu was eliminated from the first round of the US Open, losing 6-3 6-3 to Alize Cornet, who is ranked 26 places below the Brit.
After the match, Raducanu said she felt as though "the target will be off my back slightly".
Emma Raducanu's US Open record
Raducanu's first appearance at the US Open sent a litany of records tumbling, ending Britain's 44-year wait for a female Grand Slam winner despite having had no previous experience against any player inside the top 40.
That means Raducanu has a flawless record of seven wins at the tournament. She also won three qualifying matches in three days during the week before the main draw began at Flushing Meadows.
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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 the US Open.
A blister on her finger led to a painful second-round defeat against Danka Kovinic 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 prepares 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 is on the verge of retirement but Raducanu's 6-0, 6-4 win over the tennis legend in Cincinnati less than two weeks before the US Open 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."
