Emma Raducanu overcame a long medical time-out at the French Open to gain first-round victory
FRANCE: Emma Raducanu pushed through despite a long medical time-out to win an intense three-set match against China's Wang Xinyu in the first round of the French Open.
The 22-year-old athlete was ahead with a score of 6-5 in the first set when she needed to ask for medical assistance. She was then seen putting ice on her face, and her blood pressure was checked.
Due to what happened, there were speculations on whether Raducanu would exit the match, given her history with injuries and illnesses. However, three minutes after the treatment, she returned to the court and eventually won the match. With her victory, she is bound to have an exciting match against four-time champion Iga Swiatek.
Raducanu expressed: 'I think I'm actually really proud of today's match, more so than a lot of the matches that I played recently or in general, because I woke up and I felt really sick, to be honest.'
She added: 'I felt bad from the morning. I was just trying and fighting through that. It was really difficult. You know, in the first set, I just felt it straight away and it didn't really go away throughout the whole match… To have kind of come through that and overcome how I was feeling, I'm really happy with, and I didn't let it kind of, you know…it would have been easy to kind of let it drag me down.' Highlights of the game
Before the match started, Raducanu admitted that the back injury she sustained in Strasbourg last week had yet to fully recover. She needed to overcome her fear of needles to receive acupuncture treatment to treat her concerns. While her movement on court appeared unaffected, her energy levels seemed low.
The Chinese athlete managed to take over the second set, but Raducanu was determined and came through with an impressive 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win despite disappearing from the court for quite some time. Moreover, the match was the longest clay-court battle of Raducanu's career, having a final time of two hours and 44 minutes.
In a social media post shared by the LTA, it stated: ' Job done for @EmmaRaducanu at @rolandgarros'
Netizens commented on the post and said: 'She really is back to her best. Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if she upsets Swiatek in the next round, she hasn't been playing well at all lately,' and ' Best of luck for your 2nd GS'
In another social media post, Raducanu personally shared her Paris experience with a caption: 'emma à paris 🥐'
More netizens showed their support to the young athlete and remarked: 'Well played! Hope you are feeling better now 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻', 'Very nice pictures Emma! Paris is a beautiful city, you are a wonderful girl beside that my favorite tennis player! I will always support you! Let's go champ! ❤️❤️❤️', and 'Congrats for surviving the first round 😀'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Independent Singapore
an hour ago
- Independent Singapore
LTA plans to give equal prize money to men and women athletes at the Queen's Club by 2029
INTERNATIONAL: The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has stated that it is committed to achieving equal prize money for men and women athletes at the Queen's Club and Eastbourne by 2029. This year, the women's event at Queen's Club will have a total prize money of US$1.415 million (about £1.043 million or S$1.80 million). This amount includes the voluntary increase by the LTA, which raised the standard prize money by approximately 33%. This is to show support for greater pay equality. However, despite the boost, the total women's prize pool is still significantly lower than the prize men athletes will receive for competing at the Queen's as well. This highlights the gap between the two events. With this, the LTA declared that they are determined to close the gap over the next few years. LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd expressed: ' The LTA is committed to growing women's tennis, both at professional and grass-roots level, and this move is an important part of that commitment.' See also Speedway SEA Championship returns for OCBC Cycle 2024 He added: 'This year, fans will be able to enjoy both men's and women's tennis on the biggest stages that we can offer… We want to develop the tournaments so that the women's events deliver a path to profitability and greater visibility for the sport.' More about the events The prize money minimums are set by the ATP and WTA tours. At the Queen's Club, the men's ATP event allotted €2.522 million (£2.122 million), and for the women's WTA tournament, which will return for the first time since 1973, will have a smaller prize fund. Both events are known to be '500' level tournaments. It means that it is just below the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000. The men's tournament is sold out, while over 80% of women's tickets are sold at lower prices. Moreover, the LTA is facing a challenge because money spent on prize funds can't be used to support grassroots tennis programs in the UK. Their summer events lost £4 million last year. With all of this, the LTA has pledged to achieve equal prize money at Queen's and Eastbourne by 2029, four years ahead of the WTA's 2033 deadline for standalone women's events. Furthermore, Eastbourne is a combined '250' event with prize money of US$389,000 (£286,650) for women and €756,875 (£637,000) for men, the highest payout for that category on the WTA Tour this year. In a social media post, LTA shared: 'A significant uplift in women's prize money for 2025 🙌… The women's prize money at the HSBC Championships and Lexus Eastbourne Open reaches record levels this summer… The LTA is committed to achieving true equal prize money for men and women at these events as soon as possible and no later than 2029.' WTA commented on the post and said: 'A win for women, a win for the sport, a win for future generations. This matters 💚' Some netizens also expressed their thoughts regarding this subject matter and said: 'We also want transparent draws of opponents' brackets' and 'Just not good enough.'
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Tottenham sack manager Postecoglou
Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, British media reported on Friday, despite the Australian guiding the club to their first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final last month. Postecoglou will leave two years after his appointment. Spurs beat Manchester United in Bilbao to win the Europa League and book their place in next season's Champions League, but a dismal domestic campaign ultimately cost Postecoglou his job. Tottenham finished 17th in the Premier League last season, fuelling pressure on the 59-year-old in his second year at the helm.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Alcaraz returns to French Open final after ailing Musetti retires
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 6, 2025 Italy's Lorenzo Musetti shakes hands with Spain's Carlos Alcaraz as he walks off the court after retiring from the semi final match REUTERS/Lisi Niesner PARIS - Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached back-to-back French Open finals after Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti retired with injury while trailing 4-6 7-6(3) 6-0 2-0 on Friday. Alcaraz, who is attempting to become only the third man to retain his Roland Garros title this century after Rafa Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten, will face either world number one Jannik Sinner or 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. "It's never great to go through like this," Alcaraz said, before hailing Musetti's achievement of reaching at least the semi-finals of all four elite claycourt events this year. "He's a great player, he has had an incredible claycourt season ... I wish him a speedy recovery and I'm sure we'll be enjoying his tennis pretty soon." Musetti twice denied Alcaraz the chance to break in the opening nine games before the 23-year-old suddenly dialled up the intensity and snatched the opening set when his Spanish opponent produced errors in a poor service game. A frustrated Alcaraz kicked his bench during the second set but finally found a way through Musetti's dogged defence to draw level after a tiebreak and then produced a dazzling display of power and precision to dish out a bagel in the third set. Musetti, who appeared to be hampered by a left thigh issue midway through the third set, threw in the towel after two games in the fourth. "The first two sets were tough. I had chances to be up in the match but couldn't make the most of them," Alcaraz added. "When I won the second set, I was relieved and I knew that I needed to be aggressive and be myself. I was calmer. I could see clearer and I could play great tennis at the start of the third. "I'm feeling great physically. It's been three intense weeks but I have one more step to take. I'm playing great tennis and I have great confidence. I've been doing great things in this tournament and now is the time to give 100% in the final." Alcaraz said he would tune into the second semi-final on Court Philippe Chatrier to study his potential opponents. "I'm not going to miss tonight's match, it's one of the best we can have right now, Sinner against Djokovic," he said. "I'm going to watch it and enjoy it and take tactics from the match." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
