During her pre-tournament press conference, Raducanu was asked to share her thoughts on Novak Djokovic’s tumultuous visa battle that has dominated the headlines in the past week or so.
The Serb, who came to Melbourne with a medical exemption, had his visa revoked by the Border Police before it was reinstated by the Federal Circuit Court. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, however, exercised his “personal power” to cancel Djokovic’s visa once again and the 34-year-old has once again approached the court to challenge Hawke’s decision.
Emma Raducanu believes the developments surrounding Djokovic have shifted the focus away from the Australian summer of tennis. She pointed out how her fellow Brit Andy Murray had reached his first final since 2019 in Sydney and that was going to focus on supporting him.
Murray had not yet played in the Sydney final at the time of Raducanu’s press conference. He would go on to lose to Aslan Karatsev in straight sets.
Raducanu was diagnosed with COVID-19 towards the end of last year, which forced her to delay the start of her 2022 season. She launched her season at the Sydney Tennis Classic, where she won just one game against Elena Rybakina in the first round.
Nevertheless, Raducanu revealed that she has been improving her game on the practice courts and is getting close to her best.
“It’s going to be a very cool experience to play here in the main draw for the first time” - Emma Raducanu on Australian Open debut
The 2021 US Open champion proceeded to talk about how she feels ahead of her maiden main-draw appearance at the Australian Open. She recalled competing at the Melbourne Major as a junior and felt proud at how quickly she transitioned to the professional circuit.
She asserted that she was going to “enjoy” her time on court and would not be putting pressure on herself in the upcoming fortnight.
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