Emma Raducanu has been left with a swollen hand and ankle after being ‘badly bitten by ants’ at the 2025 Australian Open in dramatic scenes.
The British tennis star, world No.60, is unseeded at Melbourne Park and is set to face Russian 26th-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.
Raducanu’s preparations for the first major tournament of the year have not been ideal, with a ‘back niggle’ ruling her out of the recent ASB Classic.
The 22-year-old has now been attacked by insects – and decided not to use an antiseptic spray – because she didn’t want to risk failing a drugs test.
‘I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take onboard, and what we use,’ Raducanu said ahead of her opening match Down Under.
‘Yesterday, for example, I got really badly bitten by like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess.
‘They flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was, like, giving me this antiseptic spray, natural, to try to ease the bites. I didn’t want to take it. I didn’t want to spray it.
‘I was just like left there with my swollen ankle and hand. I was, like, I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it.
‘It’s obviously a concern on our mind. We’re all in the same boat. I think it’s just how we manage as best as we can the controllables.
‘If something out of our control happens, then it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to try and prove.’
Raducanu may have lost her ‘fear factor’ – according to Boris Becker – but at least her minor back injury has cleared up in time for the Australian Open.
‘I’ve been feeling good,’ the 2021 US Open champion added. ‘I think the last 10 days I’ve had a positive block of training.
‘Coming back on the court, adapting to the conditions here, has been good for me. Now I feel good and I feel ready to give it my best here. It’s a tricky draw, of course.
‘Being unseeded, you can play any top opponent. She’s a player with a lot of experience. I guess I’m coming in with the underdog mentality. She’s been in this situation many more times than I have.’
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