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Emma Raducanu is back in London as the British tennis star hit the National Tennis Centre on Friday to practice four days after exiting Doha in a disappointing way, via James Gray of British newspaper i.
After kicking off her Middle East swing at a WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi with a round-of-16 showing, Raducanu also participated in this week's WTA 1000 event in Doha after being granted a main draw wildcard. After receiving a main draw wildcard into Doha, Raducanu also received a favorable first-round matchup but ended up losing 0-6 6-7 (6) to Anhelina Kalinina.
Following her Doha exit, Raducanu didn't hide that she was disappointed with her performance. After the match, Raducanu also revealed that she decided not to play in next week's WTA 1000 event in Dubai. Instead, Raducanu decided to return home and do some analysis and work on the practice court before playing again.
I understand Emma Raducanu is back in the UK to train, scheduled to be on court in London today with LTA national coach (and popular hitting partner) Colin Beecher.
— James Gray (@jamesgraysport) February 16, 2024
Long read coming later on Raducanu's state of play after an up-and-down start to the year, and where she goes next
Raducanu was pretty candid when addressing her Doha performance
Before Doha, Raducanu showed some very promising signs in her first three tournaments after surgeries on both wrists and her right ankle. But in Doha, Raducanu picked up her first first-round exit of the season and afterward pretty honestly admitted that she was "struggling with everything" in her game against Kalinina.
"I think I was struggling with everything, serve, return, forehand, backhand," Raducanu told Sky Sports after her Doha exit.
"To be honest I felt like I never really got into it. I think it was a combination of things. It's like my first day match I think I've played in a year, so that's different."
Also, Raducanu hinted she would do an analysis and change some things in her scheduling.
“I think that I need to kind of schedule my tournaments a bit better as well as just trying to get some more matches under my belt. I think that I’m just going to go home and practice and we’ll see where it goes from there," Raducanu said.