Emma Raducanu has experienced a rollercoaster journey since winning the US Open in 2021 but the Brit believes she is on the right path to her best form. 

Raucanu, who is currently ranked 303rd in the world, hasn’t won another title since her Grand Slam triumph and has missed months of the Tour due to various injury setbacks. Last year, she underwent two surgeries on her wrists and another on her ankle. This week in Stuttgart she is playing in her sixth tournament since returning to competitive tennis following those surgeries. 

In recent weeks Raducanu has been building momentum on the Tour. Last weekend she beat world No.23 Caroline Garcia in the Billie Jean King Cup and on Wednesday she dropped just three games during her 6-2, 6-1, triumph over ex-No.1 Angelique Kerber at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. 

The 21-year-old partly credits her resurgence to the work she has done with Nick Cavaday. Her childhood coach who she reappointed to her team shortly before this year’s Australian Open.   

“I feel very comfortable working with him. I have known him since I was a young age, so he’s someone who I feel like I can trust, and that’s a big thing for me,” Raducanu told reporters in Stuttgart. 
“I feel like he’s known me since a young age. He knows pretty well how I operate. I would say I haven’t changed at all since I was like 8 or 9. But everything around me has changed, but it’s mentally I feel like I’m the exact same person. 
“We have obviously been doing great work this year, and it’s starting to show, but the training weeks we have been doing since the start, it’s just been slowly building and building. Whenever it all comes together, I think, like, big things will happen.”

As to what areas of Raducanu’s game has improved, she believes her serve is more effective. Against Kerber in Stuttgart, she won 56% of her service points and saved nine out of 11 break points faced. 

“I am playing some really good tennis. I feel like I’m a lot more dominant in my service games.” She said.
“I think it’s a combination of doing actual good practice weeks, doing the right things. I’m really enjoying working with Nick, my coach. It’s great to have a familiar face, but I also think we’re just working really well together as a team.”

In Stuttgart, Raducanu will play Czech Republic’s Linda Nosková in the second round who knocked out Jelena Ostapenko in her opening match. 

Ons Jabeur says she has a duty to be upfront about her struggles to help the next generation of professional players on the Tour. 

The two-time Wimbledon finalist ended a five-match losing streak on Wednesday at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) in her opening match. The victory was the first Jabeur has recorded since February 7th when she beat Emma Raducanu at the Abu Dhabi Open. Overall, she has won three out of nine matches played so far in 2024.

Jabeur’s lacklustre results coincided with a flare-up of a knee issue that has been troubling her for more than five years. It is an injury that comes and goes but the Tunisian says playing on the clay helps her. 

“It’s been a couple of tough months. I didn’t expect that an injury could affect my mental so badly.” The world No.9 told reporters in Stuttgart.
“The knee was affecting me so badly, and I didn’t realize. I kept going and trying to play matches even though I knew I wasn’t ready, and that didn’t help with the level of losing basically against anyone on Tour.”

The 29-year-old is not afraid to speak about her struggles in the sport. She believes being honest about such problems helps both her and those watching her play. 

“I feel like it’s my duty, and to be honest, for the next generation when they watch you, not to think that everything is perfect on the court. There are some tough moments, some up-and-downs, but the most important thing is that you give it all on the court.” She said.

Jabeur will be hoping to get back on track during the European clay swing. Last year she experienced mixed fortunes on the surface. She won the Charleston Open, reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart and the quarter-finals of the French Open. However, at two other events during this period, she lost her opening match. 

“Playing on clay really helps my knee a lot. I’m getting the movement much better.” Jabeur explained.
“I think it just a matter of matches and definitely more training and keep being patient because I feel like that’s the key for me right now.”

Jabeur, who is seeded seventh in Stuttgart, will next play Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. 

Rafael Nadal believes that he can be competitive for Roland Garros despite his 7-5 6-1 defeat to Alex De Minaur in Barcelona.

The 12-time champion suffered a straight sets defeat to the in-form Australian in the second round.

There was a valiant comeback from Nadal in the opening set as he recovered from a break down to get back onto level terms.

However De Minaur was too strong for Nadal as the world number eleven won nine of the last ten games to set up a third round meeting with Daniel Altmaier or Arthur Fils.

After the match Nadal congratulated De Minaur on the victory and analysed his own performance, “I mean Alex is a great player but honestly no, in terms of tennis today he’s in better shape than me so he is playing at a really high level since the beginning of the season, I think he made a really important step forward in his level of tennis,” Nadal told reporters in Barcelona.

“So just happy for him and congratulate him for the level he played today. And I think I was able to show myself most important to show the world and show myself when I was really trying and showed a high percentage of intensity, my level was there to compete.

“And I didn’t practice a lot so that encourages me to keep going and tells me that if I spend the day on the tour and keep practicing with the players on this surface, I really hope and really believe that I can keep being competitive and my body will allow me to push the way that I know.”

The defeat to De Minaur was Nadal’s third match all season having struggled with injury with the Spaniard hinting this could be his last time playing in Barcelona.

Despite the loss Nadal admits he feels happier and more comfortable than he did a couple of weeks ago, “I feel much more comfortable and much more happier today than one week and a half ago,” Nadal explained.

“I managed to play two matches, playing against great players and I mean when I was able to play I was not very far without a doubt. And I feel myself that if I’m able to keep practicing days on the tour and if my body allows me to spend hours on court and have the practices the way that I need.”

Now the next goal for Nadal is to try to reclaim his Roland Garros title, a tournament he has won on 14 different occasions.

As for Roland Garros Nadal just hopes he can be competitive for the second Grand Slam of the season as he intensifies his preparations over the next few weeks, “I hope to be competitive, that’s the truth and I hope and believe that I can be competitive in a few weeks,” Nadal stated.

“That’s the way I need to perceive today and my final goal is to give myself a chance to be realistically competing at Roland Garros. In my tennis career I was able to compete at the highest level at every single tournament, trying to win tournaments and I was not able to do it today.

“But I hope to be ready in a few weeks.”

Before Roland Garros, Nadal will hope to play in Madrid which starts on the 25th of April.