Emma Raducanu has received the LTA’s Women’s Player of the Month award for July following an upturn in form.
The 21-year-old has had a recent upsurge, indicating that she might be getting back to her best after going through injury hell in 2023.
This summer at Wimbledon, Raducanu had an amazing run, making it to the fourth round and defeating Elise Mertens and world no. 9 Maria Sakkari along the way.
The British player made it to the Grand Slam round of 16 for the first time since winning the US Open in 2021, even though she ultimately lost to Lulu Sun of New Zealand in three sets. Since then, she has struggled with form and fitness.
Raducanu made it to the quarterfinals at Eastbourne, but her Wimbledon performance suggests that she may have moved over her past problems this summer.
These accomplishments, together with making it to the June Rothesay Open semifinals, were sufficient to propel the third-ranked British player back into the top 100 in the world.
Using social media, the LTA declared Raducanu the winner, stating on X, “Your Female Player of the Month for July is Emma Raducanu.”
The star’s qualifications for the award, which is chosen by members, were then explained by the national tennis governing body: “Achieved Wimbledon’s fourth round.”
“Beat world number 33World No. 9 Elise Mertens Maria Sakkari en route. re-entered the WTA top 100.”
The Grand Slam winner has also been playing well since having a solid July. She advanced to the Mubadala Citi DC Open quarterfinals in early August, where she was defeated by Paula Badosa, the former world no. 2 seed.
Raducanu, who missed the second half of 2023 due to double wrist and ankle surgery, has made it her goal to get back to full fitness this year.
She also made many difficult decisions over the summer, the first being to withdraw from the Wimbledon mixed doubles with Andy Murray out of a wish to prevent a recurrence of previous ailments.
Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021 at the age of 18, will be aiming to return to her very best in time for this year’s competition.Regards: AFP
This month’s Female Player of the Month is @EmmaRaducanu 🙌.
– At Wimbledon, advanced to the fourth round – Bested world no. 33 Elise Mertens and world number nine Along the way, Maria Sakkari re-entered the @WTA top 100.
solely for Advantage members to vote on 🗳️
“,”width”:550,”height”:550,”provider”:”twitter”,”attribs”:{“data-tweetid”:”1822950871157600495″}} LTA (@the_LTA) August 12, 2024″data-widget-name=”embed” data-widget-id=”embed-fd57c376″ data-provider=”twitter”>
This month’s Female Player of the Month is @EmmaRaducanu 🙌
– At Wimbledon, advanced to the fourth round – Bested world no. 33 World No. 9 Elise Mertens Along the way, Maria Sakkari made a comeback to the @WTA top 100.
solely for Advantage members to vote on 🗳️
— LTA, August 12, 2024 (@the_LTA)
Raducanu defended the decision, which received harsh criticism for denying the now-retired Murray a final appearance at the All England Club.
She stated in a statement at the time: “It was a really tough choice.
Naturally, I didn’t want to ruin his final game for him. However, I believe that many players in a comparable circumstance would have prioritized their bodies in the end.”
The mixed doubles at SW19 was not the only event the brilliant kid has missed out on this summer, having also turned down the chance to compete at the Paris Olympics to avoid suffering further injury concerns owing to the surface on Roland-Garros courts.
However, Raducanu is currently making a strong recovery, suggesting that some of her riskier choices are now paying off.
She will undoubtedly be eager to carry on her comeback by reaching her peak performance at a competition that brings back so many memories; the US Open begins on August 26.
