Emma Raducanu in training court mishap ahead of opening Mexico match

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Emma Raducanu has given fans an insight into her practice sessions ahead of her debut in Guadalajara. The world No 12 is playing her first match since crashing out of the Australian Open in the second round while suffering with blistering but has had some trouble adjusting to the altitude in the city.

Raducanu is the top seed at this week’s Abierto Akron Zapopan, her first tournament since suffering an early exit at the Australian Open.

The 19-year-old score an impressive win over a fellow former US Open champion in Sloane Stephens to make her debut in Melbourne Park last month but was caught out by bad blistering in her second round match.

She could barely hold the racket, serve or hit forehands properly in her three-set loss against Danka Kovinic, later revealing members of her own team didn’t want her to play.

More than a month later the world No 12 is back in action in Mexico, where she faces former top 20 player Daria Saville (nee Gavrilova) in her opening match on Tuesday.

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Raducanu arrived in Guadalajara a few days early to start getting some practice in but ran into some trouble training in the high-altitude city.

Taking to her Instagram story, the Bromley teenager shared a snap of three rackets with broken strings from one of her pre-tournament practice sessions.

“Lol is it the altitude or topspin?” she wrote over the photo.

Adding a laughing-crying face Emoji, she also put: “1 session 3 broken strings”.

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Guadalajara is known for its unique conditions, sitting 1,500 metres above sea level, giving it a high altitude.

The city also stepped in to host the WTA Finals last year when the usual host city of Shenzhen was unable to stage the event, and the top eight players of 2021 all noticed the tougher conditions.

Thanks to the altitude, players struggle to control the ball a lot more than in other tournaments held across the WTA Tour.

Aside from adjusting to the conditions, it seems Raducanu is already enjoying her time in Mexico.

The top seed donned a sombrero for a light-hearted interview with Esto online shortly after arriving at the tournament, revealing she had already tried a virgin margarita courtesy of the tournament director.

Speaking about her lack of drinking habits, the 19-year-old said: “Well actually I don’t really drink. I’m kind of boring.

“But yesterday Gustavo gave me a virgin margarita.”

Raducanu also admitted she had never tried tequila before, laughing as she added: “I didn’t know if it was real or not, you know? Because I’ve never had tequila before so I couldn’t really taste the difference.”

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