Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu says she feels "reborn" as she prepares to play her first match of 2024 at the Auckland tennis classic.
The 21-year-old Raducanu has been out of action since April after wrist and knee operations and says she feels reinvigorated at the start of a new season.
"I feel reborn in a way, I feel fresh," the 2021 major winner told reporters. "I feel ready, I feel happy, I feel excited.
"So overall I'm feeling positive and lighter. For two years after the US Open I felt maybe a bit more like with a weight on my shoulders, but now I feel completely fresh."
Raducanu suffered an ankle injury in Auckland last year but played through the pain at the Australian Open.
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By April she had come to realise she had to take time out for surgery.
"I was having wrist pains for five months before I came to Auckland so I was managing it, keeping it going and under wraps as much as I could," Raducanu said. "I knew it was inevitable if I wanted to fix the problem but I wanted to keep going through the season.
"I'm feeling a lot better now, I'm feeling stronger. I feel fitter, more positive and refreshed so I'm really looking forward to this year."
