"Christmas in London >" - Emma Raducanu welcomes festive season with picture in front of giant Christmas tree
Emma Raducanu welcomed Christmas early this year, expressing her excitement over the festive mood in London. She shared a lovely photo of a brightly-lit Christmas tree outside what seemed like the famous Buckingham Palace.
The British teenage tennis sensation returned to hitting some tennis balls earlier this week after injuries forced her to end her season early and undertake a few weeks of rehab and recovery. She seemed thrilled to welcome the festive season, sharing the 'Christmas in London' photo on Instagram.
"Christmas in London >" Raducanu wrote in her Instagram stories along with a lovestruck emoji, sharing the Christmas tree photo.
While Raducanu returned to the practice court, she still seems to have not fully recovered from a wrist injury that forced her to miss the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and end her season much earlier than planned, as she was seen playing with her left hand.
Raducanu, who also withdrew from the Transylvania Open in Romania before the BJK Cup Finals, underwent strength training with Jez Green, who is Andy Murray's former fitness coach. She also fulfilled a few sponsorship duties during the time off and attended a Women's Rugby League World Cup game.
The 2021 US Open winner is currently scheduled to play against world no. 2 Ons Jabeur in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi in mid-December. However, only time will tell whether Raducanu completely recovers from her injury and is match fit in time for the event. She also recently announced her plans to start her 2023 season at the ASB Classic - a WTA 250 tournament in Auckland in January.
Raducanu is yet to hire a full-time coach after recently ending her coaching association with Dmitry Tursunov.
"No aura of diva or superstar about her" - Dmitry Tursunov praises Emma Raducanu
Dmitry Tursunov recently reflected on his time as Emma Raducanu's coach, praising the 19-year-old for managing her 'superstar status' with utmost humility and not carrying "an aura of a diva."
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Tursunov said that Raducanu is a very hard-working player who ensures she does not skip training sessions and other activities.
"Honestly, I did not see or feel that there were lots of outside things going on. From the time that we started, Emma just really had her nose to the ground. She was very hard working and did not see her skip a lot of things. There was no aura of diva or superstar about her and I think she has been managing that part very well," Tursunov said.
Raducanu ended the 2022 season ranked no. 75 in the WTA rankings. She went into her US Open title defense shortly after making her top-10 debut but experienced a big fall in the rankings as she dropped 2000 points by bowing out in the first round.