Emma Raducanu trained in full view of the public for the first time since sustaining an ankle sprain as she continues her race against the clock to be ready for next week’s Australian Open.
The British No 1 was put through her paces by her trial coach, Sebastian Sachs, on an outside court in Melbourne Park on Wednesday as her physio, Will Herbert, stood by to provide support for her ankle.
After practising for just shy of half an hour, moving tentatively around the baseline but striking the ball at full force, Raducanu switched to Margaret Court Arena to continue her session.
As she continues her recovery from an ankle sprain she sustained in her second round match at the ASB Classic in Auckland last week, Raducanu faces a difficult task to be in good shape for the Australian Open, which begins on Monday. On Thursday Raducanu and the rest of the field will learn their first-round opponents.
Elsewhere, Jack Draper reached his first quarter-final of the new season in Adelaide as he overpowered Tommy Paul, the eighth seed, 6-4, 6-4 in his second tournament of the year. Draper will next face the world No 20 Karen Khachanov, who beat him last week in the first Adelaide event and at the US Open last year.
Cameron Norrie defeated the young Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in his rain-delayed opening match in Auckland, the city where he grew up from the age of three. Liam Broady lost in qualifying after a battle with the Colombian Emilio Gómez which lasted almost three hours. Gómez took the final three points of the deciding tie-break to prevail 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6 (7).
There were positive results for British players during the Australian Open qualifying round. Yuriko Miyazaki reached the final round of qualifying for the first time, defeating Jang Su-jeong 6-4, 7-6 (2). She was joined later by Jodie Burrage, the 26th seed, who defeated Barbora Palicova 6-1, 6-2. But Katie Swan was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Jessika Ponchet of France.
