From the sidelines: Greg Rusedski breaks down Emma Raducanu’s Rome preparation

Greg Rusedski shares his thoughts on Emma Raducanu’s decision to pull out of Rome

Rusedski spoke about the situation on an episode of ‘Off Court with Greg‘, where he said: “It’s such a shame because I watched her practice session.

“She’s hitting the ball well, she’s taking it early, she had like two practice sessions most days and then all of a sudden, you know, everybody in the media is thinking, okay great, she’s gonna restart up.

“They’ve put all the press out there saying she’s playing in Rome and then boom, all of a sudden she’s not playing. The virus reappears.

“I don’t know whether she’s got to get her nutrition up, whether she’s gotta get a diet up, whether she’s got to find some sort of solution because it’s been a long, long time since she’s played a match.

“The last match she’s played was Indian Wells and I mean, it feels like an eternity ago and I hope she finds some way to get back. She needs matches.

“If she’s gonna go into grass court season, you know, even if you don’t play well in clay, it doesn’t matter because you’re on court, you’re doing the reps and they pay off later.

“But, you know, it looks like at the moment she might just be starting up with the French or she might just say, okay, fine, clay’s done, I’m gonna cure this virus and get ready for grass court season but we’d all love to see her back, and we’d all love to know what’s happening.

“Everybody’s kind of up in the air right now. She needs to have a travelling doctor. Why not put a team of a doctor, a nutritionist, somebody around you to just give you that opportunity to be able to get back on court because, you know, it’s just been too stop-start.”

Raducanu made headlines around the world when her breakthrough win came at the 2021 US Open. It shot her career into another stratosphere – along with raising expectations around every aspect of her game.

The Briton recently admitted that high-profile success has felt like both “a blessing and a curse” throughout different points in her career so far.

Emma Raducanu’s WTA Tour Results for the 2026 Season

So far this season, Raducanu has appeared in seven tournaments on the WTA Tour and holds an even 7-7 record.

Her standout performance came at the Transylvania Open in February, where she reached the final before losing to Sorana Cirstea.

At the Australian Open, she went out in the second round, followed by consecutive first-round defeats in Qatar and Dubai.

Raducanu’s last outing came at Indian Wells, where she exited in the third round after a loss to Amanda Anisimova.