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Emma Raducanu on Saturday announced her decision to pull out of the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set, one of the tournaments leading up to the Australian Open.
In a statement, Raducanu said it was "too soon" for her to return to competition, given that she has had virtually no time on the practice courts following her COVID-19 diagnosis last month.
"The timing to compete in the first Melbourne event this week is too soon for me, having just returned from isolation," Raducanu said.
The Brit, along with the likes of Belinda Bencic and Ons Jabeur, contracted COVID-19 last month. Raducanu's diagnosis forced her to pull out of the invitational Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
The 19-year-old isolated at home in the weeks following her diagnosis, but recently made the trip to Australia. She is scheduled to take part in the Sydney Classic later this month before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open, scheduled to be played from January 17-30.
The youngster last played a tennis match in November, when she took on Elena Gabriela Ruse at an exhibition event at the Royal Albert Hall.
The 2022 season commences on January 3 with the Adelaide International. The WTA 500 tournament will feature a number of top players, including Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina.
Emma Raducanu hits the practice courts Down Under
Emma Raducanu, who recently formed a partnership with German coach Torben Beltz, was spotted hitting the practice courts at Melbourne Park to fine-tune her game ahead of the Australian Open.
Raducanu shared a few snippets of her training session on social media. The Brit shared a 15-second video of herself hitting a few groundstrokes and captioned the post: "very happy to be here".
After lifting her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last year, Raducanu will be hoping to kick on this season.
