‘Brave’ Raducanu played on despite blisters

Emma Raducanu was advised not to play her second round match against Danka Kovinic on Thursday evening because of blisters on her right hand.

Her support team knew the blisters would be a major issue, but the US Open champion wanted to play on.

“I was struggling with my hand before the match,” Raducanu said.

“There were some people in my team that maybe didn’t want me to play, but I wanted to go out there and fight through it, to see how far I could go.

“I thought it was a pretty good learning experience for me. I discovered tools about myself and my game that I didn’t know I had before.”

The upset was on the cards early as Raducanu battled the blisters on her right hand, wincing in pain every time she hit the ball.

She got help after calling a medical timeout and repeatedly sort extra bandages at each break in play, but it was not to be.

Raducanu said after the match the blisters had been an issue for a couple of weeks.

I’ve been struggling with blisters since I started playing in Australia because 21 days of no tennis, my hands got pretty soft

Emma Raducanu

“I’ve been struggling with blisters since I started playing in Australia because 21 days with no tennis, my hands got pretty soft,” she said.

“From day one, day two, I was getting blisters pop up here and there. This particular one has been with me for about five days, and I have been trying to take it for every practice and it would harden and dry out, but then once I would play again, another layer would rip off.

“It ended up being pretty deep. It’s a bit annoying because I know it’s something that will heal in a few days, but it’s just unfortunate timing.

“I fought so hard just to come to Australia and I didn’t want to go out like that,” she said.

“So I just left it all out on the court, after everything I went through.”

Raducanu explained how the blisters caused her to struggle gripping the racquet.

“Every time I hit and make contact with the ball, it would create an impact,” she said.

“Say I hit one slightly off-centre and the racquet moves a bit in my hand, it’s like even more friction and it just rips again. So it’s very painful, like every single shot you hit.”