An emotional Emma Raducanu returned to winning ways in her first match for nearly nine months after undergoing triple surgery.
The 21-year-old former US Open champion has not played since the Stuttgart Open back in April last year after which she underwent operations on both her wrists and an ankle.
She had been scheduled to make her comeback in Macau last month but delayed the timing of her return until the ASB Classic in Auckland for which she received a wildcard to compete.
And taking on friend Elena-Gabriela Ruse in her first-round tie, she edged a tight contest 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, needing four match points to finally win the match.
Raducanu fought back the tears in the immediate aftermath of the win, recalling how her injuries had left her first bedridden and then wheelchair bound in what has been a lengthy and painstaking rehabilitation period.
Of her winning return, she said: “It was a match of ups and downs. It’s always difficult playing a friend. It’s also difficult after having such a long hiatus. I’m grateful to be healthy and able to move my body, not bedridden or in a wheelchair.
“It’s amazing to be out here and playing. I’m just really happy to be back on the tour. Can’t wait to start this season and carry on, hopefully injury free and healthy.”
Raducanu has struggled for form and fitness since her fairytale US Open win in New York back in 2021, and there had been question marks about her ability to return to the top of the sport following her series of operations.
But after two hours on court against Ruse, the former British No1, who has tumbled to 301st in the world rankings, still looked relatively fresh.
Raducanu, who earned a reputation for her aggressive style of tennis in her breakout season in three years ago, was quick out of the blocks against her Romanian opponent to wrap up the opening set in just 37 minutes.
Hopes of an early break in the second set were quashed when she failed to convert three break points in the opening game, which lasted 11 minutes.
That held game seemed to swing momentum back to the world No134, who went on to force a deciding set.
Playing with notable scars on both wrists from her surgery, Raducanu then raced into a 5-2 lead but struggled to close out the match and was notably emotional when she eventually did.
While it is only one match into her return, the signs are promising having shown flashes of her old self on court.
Afterwards, she said: “Thank you to everyone for coming out and staying late and cold, I really appreciate the support throughout. I love being back in Auckland, I’m having a blast so far, so thank you and see you in the next round.”
She next faces a tough second-round match against Elina Svitolina, who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon last summer shortly after a run to the quarter-finals at the preceding French Open.
Raducanu had sounded a confident note ahead of her long-awaited comeback, insisting she was a better player than prior to surgery and has been working on her rehabilitation at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
She also insisted she was physically fitter and stronger before having focused heavily on her strength and conditioning while sidelined from the tour.
Speaking on her arrival in Auckland, she had said: “It’s just about now putting it into a match, which is obviously completely different to practice. I know that will come in time though, as long as the level is there and improving.
“I think match wise, it might take a while to adjust to the feeling of pre-match nerves of just match fitness. But level wise, I feel really good.”
On what proved a positive day for British tennis, Liam Broady won his third straight match at the Hong Kong Open, a result which ought to take him into the world’s top 100.
The Briton had come through two qualifying rounds and then beat Pedro Cachin in his first-round match in the main draw 6-4, 6-0. He now faces No1 seed Andrey Rublev for what will be a first career meeting between the pair.
The wins for Raducanu and Broady followed a day on from Andy Murray losing his opening match of 2024, undone 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 at the Brisbane International to tournament second seed Grigor Dimitrov.
