Emma Raducanu has appeared in the draw for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix one day after her Billie Jean King Cup debut was derailed by a right foot injury. The world No 11 is the eighth seed at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart and will face a qualifier in the first round. It is not yet known whether she will pull up in time for her maiden WTA Tour event on clay but Raducanu is not ruling anything out just yet.
Raducanu has been drawn as the eighth seed at the Stuttgart tournament in the same section as world No 1 Iga Swiatek. It comes after the 19-year-old suffered a 6-1 6-1 defeat to Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday in Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup tie against the Czech Republic, where she was struck by what appeared to be severe blistering on her right foot.
After the match, the US Open champion admitted to feeling “helpless” on court and said she was forced to bathe her feet in “surgical spirit” but did not yet rule out an appearance in Stuttgart next week, saying the tournament was not out of question following her latest injury. It appears Raducanu has dropped a hint about her participation as she has kept herself in the draw.
The world No 12 could still pull out of the tournament before she is due to play her first match against a qualifier. If she competes and gets past the opening round, Raducanu will meet the winner of a clash between two Italians in Jasmine Paolini and Camila Giorgi, and then could face the world No 1 Swiatek in the quarter-final.
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Raducanu has suffered multiple injuries and niggles so far this year in what is her first full season on the pro tour. Blistering affected her previously at the Australian Open when she could barely serve or hit forehands in her three-set second-round loss to Danka Kovinic with severe blistering on her hands, and she then picked up a leg injury in Mexico before suffering a stiff back in Indian Wells.
Raducanu’s BJK Cup captain Anne Keothavong opened up on the injury as she urged the teenager to become “more robust”, saying: “Before the match we were aware she had a blister but it got progressively worse for her during the match. There was no indication of anything that said to us that she couldn’t play or that she wasn’t ready to go out there and give it her absolute best. It does take time for a player to get used to life on the tour and become more robust, and she certainly needs to become more robust.”
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