Emma Raducanu’s physical frailty reared its head again as she staggered to defeat in the Billie Jean King Cup on Saturday.
Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic defeated Britain’s number one 6-1 6-1, leaving the country down 2-1 with two rubbers remaining.
Raducanu won a nice match against Tereza Martincova on Friday, but she has spoken about losing her toe nails as she learns how to glide on the brown soil, which she has not played on since the French Open juniors in 2018.
This appeared to take its toll towards the end of the first set against Vondrousova, which was played out in frigid conditions which saw both courtside captains wrapped up like they were in a ski resort.
Saturday’s win for Vondrousova has put Czech Republic 2-1 up in the Billie Jean King Cup
From the start this was something of a schooling on clay for Raducanu, as she tries to get used to the sport’s most demanding surface.
There are few players who have mastered it better than the elegant lefthander Vondrousova, who reached the French Open final three years ago.
She is an absolute natural on clay, as opposed to grass, upon which the British teenager beat her at Wimbledon last year.
While Raducanu assessed the damage – she is due to play again next week in Stuttgart – her team were left with an impossible looking task to win the tie against one of the powerhouse nations of the women’s game.
Raducanu said later: ‘I have a blister on my foot. It kind of showed up after yesterday’s match. We’ve been managing it but as you saw, I mean 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 conceded that she needs to sort out the injuries that’ve affected her performances
‘This morning it was in pretty good condition. I practised and it definitely just got progressively worse throughout the end of practice towards the match.
‘Even in the first two games, I felt like it was really bothering throughout the match, the more I moved or the more I had to change direction, I couldn’t really do it at all.’
She conceded that she needed to sort out what has been the latest in a series of issues that have hindered her performance.
‘I have had a few blisters on my feet before for sure but I think it’s related to numerous things. So I’m just going to go and evaluate all my options in all sorts of feet scenarios. Because this has happened quite a few times now. And we need to nip it in the bud like now.’
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