Billie Jean King Cup 2024: Emma Raducanu back as Great Britain take on Germany
If Raducanu is picked against Germany as expected, she will be tasked with putting her team ahead in the three-match tie before Katie Boulter plays in the second singles match.
It has been a winning formula. Raducanu and Boulter won three of their four singles matches as GB beat France in April’s qualifier.
Boulter, ranked 24th in the world, is the nation’s leading player, with Harriet Dart, Heather Watson and doubles specialist Olivia Nicholls completing the team in Spain.
Raducanu, though, has not played since 21 September when she retired from her Korea Open quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina, but on Thursday she insisted she was ready.
“I’m in a place where I feel good and confident to give it my all if I’m to be on the match court,” said Raducanu, who is “in discussions” about bringing Naomi Osaka’s former fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura into her team.
“I’ve been training in the last three weeks on it, properly building up and last week I was throwing myself around the court. It’s feeling good.
“I’m happy to be in this position especially because it did take longer than we think. I feel really fit.”
Raducanu has played just 33 matches this year after returning from the wrist and ankle surgeries which ruled her out of most of last season.
There have been moments of encouragement on her climb back into the world’s top 60, but plenty of patience has also been required.
As she recovered from the foot problem, Raducanu used the time away from the match court to “detach”.
She spent quality time with her grandma who lives in China, brushed up her skills on the piano and read a stack of books.
The mind is rested. But will the body be sharp?
“Sharpness is something which comes with matches and although I haven’t played in a while, it will be good to find out,” said Raducanu, who lamented not playing enough matches before her painful US Open first-round exit in August.
“On the practice court and practice points, I feel sharp and pretty good.
“I don’t feel too far behind even though the second half of the season I have been a lot lighter on tournaments.”
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