Raducanu overcoming fear of needles to solve back problems

PARIS — Emma Raducanu is facing up to her phobia of needles in a bid to solve her back problems ahead of her French Open Round 1 match against Wang Xinyu on Monday.

Raducanu suffered back spasms in her second-round defeat to Danielle Collins in the Strasbourg Open last week as she ramped up preparations ahead of Roland Garros. She is featuring in the main draw for just the second time, after she reached the second round of the French Open in 2022.

But her preparations have been affected by back trouble. She has had issues with her back in the past, and it sidelined her at the start of the year as she prepared for the Australian Open. She admits her back is not fully healed but has tried various treatments that saw her having acupuncture, something she has previously avoided due to her fear of needles.

“[The back is] not feeling 100%,” Raducanu said. “I had a spasm in Strasbourg, and just been trying to manage it as best I can doing treatment. I’ve been on the practice court last night and this morning. Yeah, it felt OK, but obviously it’s different playing a match. I’m trying to do everything to get up to speed as fast as possible.

“I would say the one before Australia was worse. I feel like this one I kind of caught before it fully locked up. So I think the treatment is a lot of it with the physios, a lot of it with heat. Been doing some needling.

“At the start of the year, I was so scared of needles. It was my biggest phobia. That was the only way I was going to be able to play Australia. So since then, I’ve been kind of dipping my toes into it because I know it helps even though I’m really scared of them. That’s how I’ve kind of been trying to manage it.”

Raducanu said there is a correlation between playing on clay and her back flaring up.

“In 2024 and in 2022 when I played on the clay, I had, both times, back issues,” she said. “I think with the ball it’s a lot higher bouncing, longer rallies, getting to some awkward positions because the bounces aren’t necessarily even.

“So I think the trend over the last two seasons that I played on clay has been a back issue and again this time, but I guess that’s something I need to manage. I think with the way my back is structured, I’m more prone to I guess picking things up, especially on clay.”

Raducanu said she has developed a greater understanding of her limitations when it comes to injuries. Previously she has played through the pain barrier to her own detriment, with some of her advisers telling her to toughen up. She has since learned to trust her instincts when it comes to injuries.

“I think as players we always push on through because there’s no real breaks in the season, so if you kind of miss some weeks, you’re just taking that time out from yourself because there’s not really enough time in the calendar,” Raducanu said. “So it does kind of hurt us, though, sometimes because we’ll push through and then probably do some more damage. Like I know from personal experience with my wrists, I was struggling for seven months with them before I ended up having surgery [in May 2023].

“I just kept pushing through because people were telling me I wasn’t tough enough, like I need to just work through it, like it’s normal I’m feeling fatigued because I’m training so much. When in reality I knew there was pain, and I knew it kind of felt more than just soreness.

“So I wish I would have listened to myself sooner. I would have saved myself maybe like eight months, 12 months of struggling, but I guess I can learn from that. Now I am a little bit more astute when it comes to what pain is manageable and what pain should be taken more seriously.”

Raducanu will feature alongside Jack Draper and Katie Boulter on Monday among seven British players in the opening round. Last year, the six British hopefuls who entered the main draw all suffered first-round defeats. But there is optimism British form may improve this year.

“I think we all look at it as a challenge and less of a scary thing, more of like an, OK, this is maybe not my strongest, but what can I do on it? Maybe that relieves some of the pressure as well, but I think we’ve all been doing really well,” Raducanu said. “Like Katie [Boulter] won a tournament last week. Jack [Draper] did really well. I’ve had a few wins.

“It’s nice to get some wins on the board on this surface, and I think as we all do that, we kind of give each other inspiration, give each other confidence that the others can do the same. So it’s a nice atmosphere to have, and we kind of push each other upwards that way.”