Tennis News: Emma Raducanu saves Britain and Carlos Alcaraz's injury history

Emma Raducanu is good for tennis. She might not ever sustain a consistently high level of form, but she might. She seemingly has been around for 10 years, yet she is only 21 years old. She was only 18 when she shocked the tennis world and won the 2021 US Open after entering the tournament as a qualifier.

She has been plagued by injuries over the last couple of years, however. She had surgeries on both her wrists and her ankle in 2023. Some pundits and trolls on social media have implied she cares more about getting her face in front of cameras than lifting trophies at the end of tournaments, but this seems unfair. Getting hurt is no joke.

Raducanu spent the early part of 2024 still trying to work her way back into great shape in order to be dangerous over the summer. But that arrival might have come early. The Brit was fantastic this past weekend in defeating France's Diane Perry and Caroline Garcia. Garcia has been in great form recently so Raducanu defeating her likely says more about Raducanu improving than Garcia struggling.

Emma Raducanu seems back and Carlos Alcaraz is not

Great Britain defeated France 3-1 in qualifying for the Billie Jean King Cup - two of those victories belonging to Raducanu, of course - and this pushed Britain into the BJK Cup finals in November. There should be two things about that in which to be excited. One is that Raducanu might be even better in November than she is now. The other is that because Raducanu played so well against France she might be contending for Grand Slam titles again sooner rather than later.

Speaking of being injured, however, Carlos Alcaraz appears to be struggling with a forearm injury, whether a report from tennis journalist German R. Abril wants you to believe he isn't. (Even Carlos Alcaraz tweeted he was recently dealing with an injury.) Alcaraz has withdrawn from his last two events, including this week's Barcelona Open. This is just the latest of a relatively long history of being hurt for 20-year-old Alcaraz.

His injury consists of the following:

2021 US Open - leg injury
2022 Italian Open - ankle problem
ATP Finals 2022 - abdominal strain
Australian Open 2023 - Hamstring injury
Acapulco Open 2023 - Another hamstring problem
Monte-Carlo Masters 2023 - Post-traumatic arthritis in his left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine
Basel Open 2023 - Left foot injury
Rio Open 2024 - Ankle strain
Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open 2024 - Forearm strain

Tennis players tend to struggle with joint injuries anyway due to the nature of the sport. Still, the above is a lot for someone so young. Hopefully, Alcaraz will bounce back quickly and get back to peak form.

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