Emma Raducanu has addressed recent suggestions that one of her sponsors took back the car he gave her.
On Thursday, Raducanu shared six photos on her Instagram, including one of her in what appeared to be a Porsche – along with a printed message that read: “Like I disappeared and reappeared.”
Some reports last week suggested that Porsche had repossessed a 911 Carrera GTS previously loaned to her for £125,000, although a company spokesman insisted that the company remained pleased with her performance as brand ambassador.
Raducanu, by posting a photo from the driver's seat of the Porsche this week, seemed to suggest that all was well, although it was unclear whether it was the same car or when the photo was taken.
She was also photographed talking to patients in the physiotherapy ward at Great Ormond Street Hospital – a detail confirming that she has now returned from Asia.
Her managers have said she will not participate in the upcoming Chinese events in Ningbo and Guangzhou, which leave Hong Kong at the end of the month as the last tour event on a relatively modest schedule this season. This will be followed by Raducan's scheduled appearance at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga.
Raducanu played 31 games on the 2024 tour across 13 events. She won 18 of them, raising her ranking from 301 at the beginning of the year to 57 currently. This is her first season back from double-wrist-ankle surgery, and she said: “I'm not in a big hurry to play a lot of games. I prefer to focus on tournaments and be ready to play in the tournaments I have entered.”
However, it should be said that most of the women who will take part in next month's WTA Finals in Riyad have played more than 50 matches this year, and Emma Navarro is just shy of reaching 80.
Raducano withdrew from her final match against Daria Kasatkina in Seoul, citing a ligament sprain in her foot. The injury has prevented her from playing since mid-September, but she is close to returning and hopes to play in Hong Kong on October 28.
The second most famous British tennis player is also close to returning to the tour, and a week earlier Jack Draper will go to an indoor event in Vienna.
Draper was unable to complete his match against Ugo Humbert in Tokyo last month due to abdominal problems. This came shortly after he got a taste of the spotlight that Raducanu had become accustomed to when he reached the semifinals of September's US Open.
Taking 20th place in the world rankings and 17th place in the so-called Race to Turin, which only takes into account this season's results, Draper still has a mathematical chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals should he perform well in Vienna and another Masters 1000 event in Paris.
However, it would take a different outcome to tip the scales in Draper's favor. Assuming this unlikely scenario does not come to pass, he still has two tournaments left in his transformational season, where he has already climbed 42 places in the rankings and won his first ATP title.
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