"I have a blister in my foot, it completely stopped me from moving" - Emma Raducanu after losing to Marketa Vondrousova at the Billie Jean King Cup
Emma Raducanu revealed that she had a blister on her foot which prevented her from playing at her best against Marketa Vondrousova in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifers.
The 19-year-old represented Great Britain in a tie against the Czech Republic and beat Tereza Martincova 7-5, 7-5 to mark her first victory on clay. However, she was comprehensively beaten by Vondrousova 6-1, 6-1 in her next match.
In her post-match press conference, Raducanu said a blister "completely stopped me from moving." The Brit admitted that she was extremely disappointed but would try to recover as soon as possible.
"Yeah I have a blister in my foot. It kind of showed up after yesterday's match (against Martincova), and we've been managing it, but yeah, as you saw, I couldn't really move or load either way and now it's just about trying to get it better as soon as possible," Raducanu said.
"Yeah it completely stopped me from moving, I think I saw it's tough not to be even able to like chase the ball. You know, even if a ball came around me, I was like struggling to get my feet out of the way and moving to my backhand. It was compromising every shot I had to play. So yea, it's very disappointing when you're out there playing a rubber for your country and you're like completely redundant. But I guess I can't really do anything about it."
Press conference at the @BJKCup
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Raducanu added that her foot was in good condition the previous day but things got progressively worse after that and greatly affected her performance.
"I felt after yesterday, that's when it first appeared and this morning, it was in pretty good condition," Raducanu continued. "I practiced and it definitely just got progressively worse throughout the end of practice towards the match and even in the first two games, I thought it was bothering me because I was moving wide. Throughout the match, the more I moved or the more I had to change direction, it was like I couldn't do it all."
When asked about the reason for her blister, Emma Raducanu said that it could be related to numerous things. The Brit also revealed that she has had blisters before and that she needed to "nip it in the bud like now."
"I've had a few blisters on my feet before but I think it's related to numerous things," the teenager said. "So, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna need to go and evaluate all my options and all sorts of feet scenarios because this has happened quite a few times now and yeah, we need to nip it in the bud like now."
Great Britain eventually lost the tie 3-2 as the Czech duo of Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova beat Harriet Dart and Katie Swan in the decisive doubles clash.
Emma Raducanu is set to compete at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart
Emma Raducanu is next scheduled to compete at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, kicking off on 18 April. The 19-year-old is seeded eighth at the WTA 500 event.
The tournament will be graced by a number of top players, including the likes of Iga Swiatek, Paula Badosa, Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari. Ashleigh Barty won the singles and doubles titles (alongside Jennifer Brady) in Stuttgart last year.
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