ROLAND GARROS

May 24, 2025

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Emma, welcome back to Paris. It's been a few years since you played here at Roland Garros. What have your first impressions been, and how is your preparation?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I'm happy to be back in Paris. It's been three years since I was last here. I think I'm still kind of getting my bearings. There's been a few changes. I'm still trying to figure my way around the site and changing rooms and everything. Just taking a bit of adjusting to that, but I'm happy to be here.

It's been three years. Yeah, looking forward to kind of testing myself on the clay here at the slam.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. To start with the obvious one about the back, was it a worry, and how is it feeling? What is your state of fitness going into the slam?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, it's not feeling 100%. I had a spasm in Strasbourg, and just been trying to manage it as best I can doing treatment. I've been on the practice court last night and this morning. Yeah, it felt okay, but obviously it's different playing a match. I'm trying to do everything to get up to speed as fast as possible.

Q. Is it similar issues to what you had before Australia? That was a back spasm, wasn't it?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah.

Q. Tell us how you manage it and try to recover from it and what the feeling is.

EMMA RADUCANU: I would say the one before Australia was worse. I feel like this one I kind of caught before it fully locked up. So I think the treatment is a lot of it with the physios, a lot of it with heat. Been doing some needling.

At the start of the year I was so scared of needles. It was my biggest phobia. That was the only way I was going to be able to play Australia. So since then, I've been kind of dipping my toes into it because I know it helps even though I'm really scared of them. That's how I've kind of been trying to manage it.

Q. How often would you say you do go on court dealing with some sort of either injury or pain, and what are the challenges and the decision-making process maybe in terms of internal or external pressures that affect you and maybe feeling like you need to go on court even if you're not 100%?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think recently I've actually been pretty good physically. I don't have many niggles or injuries that I've been managing, so that's a positive. I'm happy with the work I'm doing off the court that that has been the case, but I think most days you do feel sore somewhere in terms of just muscular, but we all kind of know the feeling and just keep going.

It doesn't really affect us, but I think yeah, when it gets to the point of you're completely unable to execute shots or execute any movements and you're not able to try, it's very difficult to keep playing, but no one really wants to pull out of a match ever.

Q. We didn't see you at the French Open last year. We didn't see you at the Olympics at Roland Garros. How do you reflect on those decisions not to play? Do you feel vindicated by how well you did at Wimbledon? Do you regret not playing? Were you watching on tele? How do you view it with the benefit of 12 months?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think I'm happy to have put some more time in on the clay this year. I think last year and the years before I probably would have, now looking back, preferred to have done more on the clay so that this year it didn't necessarily feel brand new and just have more time on it, more experience banked.

I think doing well at Wimbledon helped with that decision, but I think it wasn't necessarily just, I skipped the clay season to get ready for the grass. It wasn't just that. I had a few things off the court, just trying to manage everything and clear my head and get in a good spot for Wimbledon and the grass. Luckily that happened, but I don't think it's what I did last year I would prefer to do going forward, and that would be my strategy.

Q. You said you don't like needles. I'm curious, how do you manage anti-doping and the blood tests? Naomi Osaka was just in here saying it's hard for her. It's hard to find her veins so it ends up with bruises all over her arms. How is it for you?

EMMA RADUCANU: Sometimes it feels like Pin the Donkey because at 6:00 a.m. you're not very hydrated and everything. It's like you can't get any blood out, and they have however many attempts. That's a bit difficult, but I think we all have to go through it.

It's not the most enjoyable thing, but it's just part of what we have to do.

Q. Were you scared the first few times?

EMMA RADUCANU: I was very scared the first few times, but you obviously don't have a choice. They penalize you if you don't do it pretty badly, so I kind of built up my tolerance that way.

Q. Do you have any other phobias apart from needles then?

EMMA RADUCANU: Needles is like the one thing that I've always been really scared of. I'm not great in the water, to be honest, with what's underneath (laughing). Not even super deep. Whatever is under the sea. If you had seen me in the sea, I need goggles when I go swimming, but it's scary because I don't want to see it at the same time, what's under there. It's hard.

Q. More seriously, on clay is that an issue for your back as well? If I remember last season, that was what was a contributing factor. Does that give you extra jolt and is an issue?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, actually, in 2024 and in 2022 when I played on the clay, I had both times, back issues. I think with the ball it's a lot higher bouncing, longer rallies, getting to some awkward positions because the bounces aren't necessarily even.

So I think the trend over the last two seasons that I played on clay has been a back issue and again this time, but I guess that's something I need to manage. I think with the way my back is structured, I'm more prone to I guess picking things up especially on clay.

Q. I didn't know if you saw, but Caroline García sort of started a bit of a conversation recently about the culture of tennis players and athletes in general I guess kind of celebrating themselves and others for playing on through injuries and the kind of macho badge of honor that traditionally has been perceived as. I wonder whether you think there needs to be a bit of a shift of perception in that sort of, yeah, go me, I played through an injury, aren't I tough, when actually it can be very detrimental long-term?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think as players we always push on through because there's no real breaks in the season, so if you kind of miss some weeks, you're just taking that time out from yourself because there's not really enough time in the calendar.

So it does kind of hurt us, though, sometimes because we'll push through and then probably do some more damage. Like I know from personal experience with my wrists, I was struggling for seven months with them before I ended up having surgery.

I just kept pushing through because people were telling me I wasn't tough enough, like I need to just work through it, like it's normal I'm feeling fatigued because I'm training so much. When in reality I knew there was pain, and I knew it kind of felt more than just soreness.

So I wish I would have listened to myself sooner. I would have saved myself maybe like eight months, 12 months of struggling, but I guess I can learn from that. Now I am a little bit more astute when it comes to what pain is manageable and what pain should be taken more seriously.

Q. Just to clarify, when you say people were saying you weren't tough enough, do you mean people around you?

EMMA RADUCANU: People around, yeah, at the time. But, I mean, I think I obviously learned from myself, and I think at that time I was only 19, so I was just hearing this, and I wanted to push on. I wanted to work hard. I wanted to improve. Now I'm a lot more like, okay, I know what's right because I had such a strong lesson of having three surgeries.

Q. Talking of phobias, sometimes it felt like there's a little bit of a clay phobia about British players. Last year there were no wins from six, but this year generally on the clay it seems like there's been a lot of people putting up good results and playing a lot of events. Have you noticed kind of a mindset shift among the British camp in general this season about clay?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think we all look at it as a challenge and less of a scary thing, more of like an, okay, this is maybe not my strongest, but what can I do on it? Maybe that relieves some of the pressure as well, but I think we've all been doing really well. Like Katie won a tournament last week. Jack did really well. I've had a few wins.

It's nice to get some wins on the board on this surface, and I think as we all do that, we kind of give each other inspiration, give each other confidence that the others can do the same. So it's a nice atmosphere to have, and we kind of push each other upwards that way.

Q. Obviously traveling is part of a tennis player's life, but it feels like you've been away from home more in the first five months of this year than ever before maybe. Curious what that's been like in general and also playing so many tournaments? For example, going and playing Strasbourg after Rome.

EMMA RADUCANU: I think the first little bit of the year for me was maybe too much. I think I was playing too much, but at the same time I didn't have a coach, so I was kind of balancing, like, what's the best thing to do? Is it to go back to train? I didn't have anybody to train with or keep exposing myself to the level.

So I played a lot, played more than I would now. But then after Rome, for example, I feel like since Miami there's been a real shift in how I've been feeling about my tennis and off court in general.

After Rome I wanted to keep that momentum, and I felt fit. I felt good mentally. I wanted to go play Strasbourg. I had a great win against Daria in the first round and then had a tough match against Danielle. Yeah, it's nice that I want to be on the match court, want to be competing and testing myself and training, but the travel I think it is long, but you have to kind of make it so you enjoy certain things or have small things to look forward to, which is something that I've been doing a lot better.