Lors de la première semaine de la saison, Emma Raducanu s'était retirée quelques heures avant son match à Auckland face à la jeune mais talentueuse américaine Robin Montgomery, en raison d'un "problème au dos". Depuis, la Britannique a pris le temps de récupérer et tout va visiblement mieux. Avant de débuter l'Open d'Australie 2025 contre Ekaterina Alexandrova, la jeune joueuse a rassuré ses fans. En forme physiquement, elle est ambitieuse et compte bien se montrer dans le premier tournoi du Grand Chelem de la saison.
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00:00Okay, welcome everyone. I'll just get started and just raise your hand. Emma, welcome to
00:08Melbourne. Just talk about how you've been feeling the last few weeks.
00:10Yeah, I've been feeling good. I think the last 10 days I've had a positive block of
00:16training coming back on the court and adapting to the conditions here has been good for me.
00:22I mean, the last two weeks ago, I'd say like I had to pull out of Auckland because I just
00:28wasn't ready. I had a bit of a niggle that happened pretty randomly and I couldn't prevent
00:35it. But yeah, now I feel good and I feel ready to give it my best here.
00:39Okay, who'd like to get us started? Oh, Elle, yeah.
00:42Hi Emma, can you just talk a little bit more about the back issue and also how frustrating
00:49was it to have to go into a new season, sort of feeling a little bit maybe behind where
00:54you wanted to be?
00:55Yeah, I mean, I had a really good block of training in London before Billie Jean King
01:01Cup and after the tie, pretty much going straight back into it. And I just, yeah, one morning
01:07was warming up and bent over to tie my laces and I just had a spasm and that was it really.
01:16And it took a while to clear. I've had them before and they've usually settled within
01:21a few days, but this one, you know, niggled for a couple of weeks and I had to miss quite
01:27a bit of training before I left. I wasn't able to play Auckland, but now I'm feeling
01:33good and I feel like I can give it my best here and yeah, do the good training and continue
01:40with that.
01:41Okay, Neil?
01:42Is there a concern? You're a little bit ring-rushed coming in because you haven't played a match
01:46for so long. That was a bit of an issue going into the US Open and how have you tried to
01:49get over that but compensated that in the build up?
01:52Yeah, I think the difference between this and US Open is before US Open, I hadn't actually
01:57trained like at all really. But I've been putting in really good work and this week
02:04I've been playing sets with top players and feeling like I'm holding my own more than
02:10okay in those instances and practices. So I feel pretty good with my game and yeah,
02:17I'm looking forward to putting it on the match court.
02:19Next one, just raise your hand. Yeah, James.
02:24It's been a lot of talk and it's part of the job I guess is anti-doping, getting tested,
02:28being careful of what you put in your body. Can you just talk a bit about the sort of
02:32stress or maybe the concern, if you ever have them, about like making sure you know exactly
02:37what you're eating all the time and all the saps you're taking and the rest of it? Does
02:41it ever worry you that you might, you know, just accidentally or without even knowing
02:45pick-get-bing?
02:47Yeah, I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we
02:53use. I mean yesterday, for example, I got really badly bitten by, I don't know what,
02:59like ants, mosquitoes, something and I'm allergic I guess. So they fled up and swelled up really
03:06a lot. And, you know, someone was like giving me this like antiseptic spray and, you know,
03:13natural to try and ease the bites. But I was just, I didn't want to take it, you know,
03:17I didn't want to spray it. So I was just like left there with my swollen ankle and hand
03:21and I was like, I'm just going to tough it out because I don't want to risk it. So it's
03:25obviously a concern on our mind. But yeah, we're all in the same boat. And I think it's
03:30just how we manage as best as we can the controllables. And yeah, if something out of our control
03:35happens, then yeah, it's going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove.
03:42And we've got Charlie and then Kat.
03:44How the first few weeks of your talk have been? If there's anything that you've picked
03:49up on or appreciated that you've been working on together?
03:53Yeah, I think having him in my camp has been a really good addition. I think he's helped
03:59me a lot just in terms of micro dosing, you know, bits of fitness here and there throughout
04:05the day and tapering, managing my loads because I'm someone who's always going to want to
04:10push more and train more and do more. So sometimes actually having him to adapt the
04:14exercises or pull me back has been helpful. And I think he's also a really committed person
04:21and someone who is quite reliable as well. So every day I know that there's not really
04:27going to be any major surprises that are coming my way. And he's just been obviously with
04:32a lot of experience and top players. So having that and his belief and confidence in me has
04:39helped a lot.
04:41I wanted to ask about the work with Yutaka as well and what you expect. Obviously it's
04:47a long term project with him in terms of building a body physically. I wondered what you thought
04:53the timeline was in terms of getting to where you wanted to be in those terms and whether
04:59you already feel different at all from the work you've already done with him?
05:05Yeah, I think building a body, I think that's a continuous process. I think it's not something
05:11that you necessarily put a timeline on like, okay, in a year I'm going to be a top athlete.
05:16You know, it's even when you're a top athlete, there's always things you can do better. But
05:21I think I do already feel a difference when I step on the court. I feel like I'm quite
05:27reactive and explosive. And I think that stems from my warm ups being, you know, not necessarily
05:32warm ups, but they're more like a bit of a session. And I feel just ready to go when
05:38I'm on the court. And yeah, I think as for how long it's going to take, I'm not sure.
05:45But yeah, I trust his work and trust his judgment.
05:48Okay, we'll go over here and then up the back.
05:51Jackson from Tennis Australia. You've competed at this tournament the last two, three years.
05:58I suppose, what is probably your favorite moment, like being here or like, you know,
06:04favorite memory coming to Melbourne and being part of the Aussie Open?
06:08I love playing in Australia, actually. I love playing down under. I think it's nice, you
06:15know, in London, it's snowing, it's really cold, and we get to kind of escape the winter
06:20a little bit, get some winter sun. That actually makes a big difference to how I feel, I'd
06:26say, like when you wake up in the morning or in the evenings, it's still light outside.
06:30It does, you know, put a twist and enhance my mood, I'd say. But as for playing in Australia,
06:36I think the people here are very funny. There's good humor, good banter, and it's somewhere
06:41that you can kind of dish it out as well and not be afraid. So I think just the whole thing,
06:47I feel very comfortable.
06:49Okay, I think Simon was it? Yeah.
06:52Yeah, what did you make of your draw? And do you remember any of the prep you did for
06:56the same opponent at Wimbledon before she didn't play?
06:59Yeah, I mean, it's very, a tricky draw, of course, being unseeded. You can play any top
07:06opponent and, you know, she's a player with a lot of experience. So I guess I'm coming
07:12in with the underdog mentality, I guess. She's, you know, been in this situation many more
07:19times than I have, but I back myself to the hills. I feel like I'm in a good place with
07:24how I'm approaching my tennis, how I'm feeling on the court. And actually, we were going
07:29to go through the match the morning of and then it got cancelled at Wimbledon. So I haven't
07:34gone through that yet, but I will, obviously, in the next few days.
07:38Any more?
07:40Emma, you obviously didn't play nearly as many tournaments last year as most people,
07:46which therefore affects your ranking. I just wonder where do you think your ranking sort
07:51of would be had you played the same number of tournaments? Where do you feel like your
07:55tennis level sits?
07:57Well, I feel like would have, should have, could have is just something that doesn't
08:01really exist in sport in general. But I know that whenever I play like any top opponent,
08:08I feel like with the way that I'm feeling on the practice court right now, I mean, I
08:13was practicing with top ten players and feeling pretty good out there. And I think I can be
08:19a dangerous opponent for anyone, really. So, yeah, I think you have to kind of have that
08:24belief as a player. It's not really worth it going on court if you don't believe you
08:29can win.
08:32OK, one more challenge.
08:34One thing aside, how that sort of ties in with the nutrition and kind of are there particular
08:39things, particular meals you like, you always like to eat before or like fueling during?
08:45Like, I know you always ask about food.
08:48Well, I love salmon. I love having salmon before and before and after. I have salmon
08:55like twice a day, which is it's great. Omega-3, good fats. But I think, you know, before matches
09:02I keep it pretty simple with like plain rice and some protein. But I think the one thing
09:09that, you know, I've been working on is and Yutaka helping has been just like intake because
09:16obviously when we're training and it's good to just have, you know, that constant reminder
09:21like you need to kind of take fuel on board because otherwise, you know, you can go through
09:25your whole day or your whole practice and, you know, you don't have what you need to
09:29sustain like not just that day, but the whole week of training and recovery. So yeah, it's
09:34just been good to have him helping in all areas.
09:37What about during matches? Do you eat anything?
09:39Yeah, yeah. During, I usually stick to something like really fast release, some like gels or
09:46yeah, like dried fruit or something.