Raducanu must build tolerance to adversity, says former British number one Konta

[p]The 23-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raducanu-emma/YmIZde1B/"]Raducanu[/a]'s career since her staggering 2021 US Open triumph as a teenaged ‌qualifier has been littered with injuries and illness while a succession of coaches have come and gone.[/p][p]Re-united with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/richardson-andrew/QgCkKhVd/"]‌Andrew Richardson[/a], the coach she surprisingly split with shortly after her Flushing Meadows ‌fairytale, a rejuvenated Raducanu reached the Queen's Club final two weeks ago and is seeded number ‌30 at Wimbledon.[/p][p]But the old worries have returned with Raducanu withdrawing from the ‌Nottingham Open. On Saturday, with her lower leg strapped because of shin discomfort, she cut short her practice session.[/p][p]Raducanu also cancelled her pre-tournament press conference, raising fears ahead of her opening round against ‌Croatia's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ruzic-antonia/MuT7l0nb/"]Antonia Ruzic[/a] on Court One on Monday.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/konta-johanna/OpNrteQb/"]Konta[/a], who reached ⁠the 2017 Wimbledon semi-finals and rose to ‌number four in the world, suggested some of Raducanu's injuries could be due to the stress ​of expectation.[/p][p][b]"My opinion on Emma... it's her building, her continuing to build up her tolerance to adversity,"[/b] Konta, who will be part of Eurosport's coverage ​team during Wimbledon, told Reuters.[/p][p]"Not in the sense that she can't handle tough times but I think when it comes to, on a day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month basis, when ⁠things aren't going well, you feel ​pain much more, it's much easier to feel injured.[/p][p][b]"And it's not because you are necessarily looking for an excuse or you are necessarily looking for an easy, quote unquote, an easy way out. When you are on a match court, and things aren't going ‌well, if you have a niggle, an injury that you're going into that match with, you will definitely feel it a lot more than if things are going well.[/b][/p][embed guid="1669076c-9874-42c0-8d0a-816166ed54fc" url="https://x.com/BBCSport/status/2070887022345236801" social-type="twitter" /][p]"So I think for her, I've been really keen to see her really make peace with the difficulty of it."[/p][p]Konta said Raducanu's 'insane' U.S. Open triumph means she has had a back-to-front career.[/p][p][b]"Since then, it's been a bit of a catch-up. She's been trying to gain experience, trying to gain match fitness, trying to gain years on tour being a Grand Slam champion,"[/b] she said.[/p][p]"I think for me, I'm really willing and hoping for ‌her to not get the monkey off her back or make peace with the ​monkey. I feel like there's pressure to explain away why things aren't going ‌well, the pressure to feel like she has to have a reason why things aren't (going well).[/p][p][b]"A lot of these injuries, I think, will be rooted in stress more than anything as well."[/b][/p][p]Raducanu struggled this year with a post-viral illness as well as a back issue before a first-round loss at the French Open. ⁠In 2023 she missed the French Open ⁠and Wimbledon after procedures on both ‌hands and an ankle.[/p][p]She ended last season early because of illness.[/p]