Novak Djokovic and Emma Raducanu are suffering from the same problem – for very different reasons

As Novak Djokovic attempts to overcome what he describes as ‘physical battles’ in the latter stages of his career, the harsh reality of playing a limited tennis schedule is in full evidence.

Djokovic has made limited appearances on the regular ATP Tour in 2024 and that is part of the reason why he has struggled to maintain full fitness levels.

At the age of 37, he is trying to maximise his chances of claiming more Grand Slam titles by playing the tournaments he cherishes most, but his lack of time on court is contributing to the physical issues he is facing when his ageing body is put back in the line of fire.

This is a similar issue that has impacted Emma Raducanu’s year, as she opted to play a reduced schedule in her comeback from three surgeries in 2023.

While that was a sensible approach in the first half of the year, her reluctance to play in qualifying for major events led to long periods of inactivity.

This meant that when the 2021 US Open has got herself onto the court, she has suffered from a string of injury concerns.

She pulled out of the Miami Open due to injury back in March and is currently away from the sport after picking up a foot injury in her first tournament of the Asian swing of the WTA Tour and that has halted her play to play more tournaments in the second half of the year.

“I think the rest of the year, as long as I’m healthy, I’m going to try and finish the season and play as many matches as I can,” said Raducanu last month.

“It’s something I’m really light on since the grass through the (Washington) DC period. I’ve not played many points, even in practice.

So, as gruelling as (the match against Stearns) was, I think I had three hours of match experience which can only aid me going into the next few weeks.

“For me now, I just want to play matches and, in the meantime, do a little bit of work on my game where I can.”

Raducanu retired midway through her quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina in the Korea Open last month and revealed that she had sprained ligaments in her foot.

Raducanu subsequently withdrew from the China Open and Wuhan Open and has now been forced to pull out of the Ningbo Open and the Guangzhou Open the following week.