Emma Raducanu gives Australian Open update and hits out at ASB Classic over ankle injury

Emma Raducanu says it is not a surprise that someone injured themselves playing on the “slippery” ASB Classic courts in Auckland.

An ankle injury has left the Brit’s chances of playing at the Australian Open in the balance after she pulled out of her match against Viktoria Kuzmova in tears.

“It’s difficult to take,” Raducanu told reporters.

“I’ve put a lot of physical work in the last few months and I’ve been feeling good and optimistic. So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle is pretty disappointing, in the first week as well.

“I thought I was playing some pretty decent tennis.”

Raducanu’s match had been moved to an indoor court due to rain and the surface was criticised by the 20-year-old, who added that “certain aspects” of the tournament “could have been organised better”.

She continued: “The courts are incredibly slick, like very slippery, so to be honest it’s not a surprise that this happened to someone. It’s out of my control and after a very long day of waiting around.

“But we’ll assess over the next few days and see what the next steps are.”