The lower back injury which saw Emma Raducanu withdraw from the Miami Open is ‘not serious’ and was more of a precaution, according to reports.
News emerged on Monday night that the British tennis star would not play the prestigious event just one day before she was due to face Wang Xiyu in Florida.
Raducanu was ruled out for nine months between April 2023 and January 2024 and underwent three different surgeries – two on her wrists and one on her ankle.
So fans were left devastated after news of the 21-year-old’s latest setback, especially after she impressively reached the third round at Indian Wells.
According to The Guardian, though, the new injury is not serious and Raducanu only withdrew from Miami as a precaution.
She had been feeling some pain in her back and did not want to risk making it any worse.
Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021 and was ranked inside the world top 10 a year later, currently finds herself world No.288 due to her period of inactivity.
Former British No.1 Tim Henman has urged Raducanu to try and play at least 20 tournaments this year to build up her fitness and she has so far featured at five events having made her return in Auckland.
Henman told Metro.co.uk in February as quoted by Sports Central: ‘The number one priority on my wishlist for Raducanu is for her to be able to compete in whatever tournament it is, without any of the physical setbacks. ‘If she can avoid those injuries which break up the momentum and build up some physical resilience, that’s the most important thing… If she can play 20 tournaments without any injury setbacks, I think that would be fantastic.’
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