Reilly Opelka defends Emma Raducanu after latest injury setback

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Reilly Opelka showed support for Emma Raducanu as the American tennis star acknowledged that tennis is "a brutal sport" physically wise. Raducanu, 20, missed a couple of tournaments late in the 2022 season due to a wrist injury.

Raducanu thought her wrist injury was a thing of the past but then it again reappeared in early 2023. On Wednesday, Raducanu pulled out of Madrid due to the same injury. Since a tennis season lasts 11 months and players compete week in and week out, Opelka says it's definitely tricky overcoming injuries.

Opelka defends Raducanu

“It’s a brutal sport and it demands so much of you physically. You kind of learn as you go. She’ll have a rehab protocol that’s going to strengthen her hand and it probably won’t flare up again.

She’ll hopefully have a routine ready to go where she’ll be able to withstand a whole season,” Opelka said on Tennis Channel. In early March, Raducanu revealed that her old wrist injury reappeared again.

Raducanu made the last-minute call to compete in Indian Wells and she ended up making the round-of-16 before losing to Iga Swiatek. But in her following tournament, Raducanu ended up suffering a Miami first-round defeat to Bianca Andreescu.

After losing to Andreescu, Raducanu said she was hampered by a wrist issue during the match. “It’s something I’ve been managing for some time. I just need to review after this tournament really and figure out what my next steps are.

We have been managing it, keeping on top of it. I’m able to play in the short-term. But the current solutions aren’t very viable long-term," Raducanu said after exiting Miami. Meanwhile, Raducanu kicked off her clay season last week in Stuttgart, where she was beaten by Jelena Ostapenko in the first round. The next tournament on Raducanu's schedule is Rome, which starts after Madrid.