Emma Raducanu appears to limp in interview clip but ‘hopeful’ of playing Australian Open despite ankle injury

Emma Raducanu is 'hopeful' of playing the Australian Open, despite picking up an injury just days before the tournament begins.

The 20-year-old was left in tears after rolling her ankle during her second round match at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

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It was a frustrating situation for the 2021 US Open winner, who had her 2022 season ended early with a wrist injury.

Raducanu spent months training to be ready for the new season, even working with Andy Murray's former fitness trainer Jez Green, only for a freak injury to derail her plans.

"It was really unfortunate to be honest last week," Raducanu told Tennis Australia, with an interview clip appearing to show her limping.

"I was feeling great about my season and feeling really good with the preparation I did physically.

"I just had an accident on the court, which I don't know what I could have done to prevent that, so I'm just taking it a day at a time honestly and every single day try as best as possible to see and make progress. We'll see.

"Hopefully by Monday or whenever the tournament starts (for me) I'll be OK and ready but we're just taking it a day at a time and not trying to expect too much at this point."

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Speaking after she had injured her ankle, she blamed the conditions on the court for causing the problem.

She said: “The courts are incredibly slick, very slippery, so 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.”

The Australian Open gets under way on January 16 and Raducanu's team were hopeful initially after her slip in Auckland that it was only a minor ankle strain.

Reports from journalists in Melbourne said the Brit trained on the practice court on Monday, but was only out there for 30 minutes and did not put much weight on her ankle.