Emma Raducanu has revealed she was bitten by “jumping ants” ahead of her Australian Open campaign – but refused treatment to aid her recovery.
The 2021 US Open champion had a day off on Thursday when she was bitten by what she believes to have been jumping ants. The 22-year-old had an allergic reaction but refused treatment for a swollen ankle and wrist when offered antiseptic spray.
Raducanu did not want to risk the possibility of failing a drugs test – amid concerns medication could be contaminated with an illegal substance. Tennis stars Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek have both failed drugs tests in the last 12 months with the former blaming medication used by a member of his support team, and the latter a contaminated source.
Former world no.10 Raducanu, who faces Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round in Melbourne, admitted such situations had left her cautious of how to proceed. Raducanu has quickly recovered, however.
“I basically got bitten really badly, like, by these, I don’t know, like jumping ants or something,” she said in a press conference on Friday. “So I spent the second, you know, part of my day coming in to sign, seeing the doctor to try to get some remedies, because I had a bit of an allergic reaction. But I’m fine now. I’m allergic, I guess.
“They flared up and swelled up really a lot. Someone was 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 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 [that a positive test is the result of contamination].”
Raducanu has also recovered from a back injury that saw her withdraw from the ASB Classic in Auckland late last month. The British star was seeded sixth in New Zealand but had seen her preparations for the tournament disrupted due to a spasm.
“One morning I was warming up, bent over to tie my laces, and I had a [back] spasm,” Raducanu explained. “I’ve had them before.
“They’ve usually settled within a few days. But this one niggled for a couple weeks. I had to miss quite a bit of training before I left. Now I’m feeling good and I feel like I can give it my best here.”
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