FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA 500 - Stuttgart Open - Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Germany - April 18, 2023 Britain's Emma Raducanu in action during her round of 32 match against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth/File Photo
(Reuters) - Former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu said it was difficult to watch this year's Grand Slams from the sidelines following wrist and ankle surgeries but the 20-year-old is targeting a comeback next season after dropping outside the world's top 200.
Raducanu, who won her maiden Grand Slam title in New York as an 18-year-old qualifier in 2021, has not played since April, missing the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open and dropping to number 214 in the rankings.
The Briton said she had started practising in August after surgery on both wrists and her ankle.
"Next season I'll be back," she told the BBC.
"This season all the Slams were finished so it was difficult to watch them go by, but I was trying to stay in my lane as much as possible and keep focused on my recovery."
Raducanu has not crossed the second round of a Grand Slam since her Flushing Meadows triumph and has come in for her fair share of criticism.
"The fact they're still talking about me even though I'm not at these events is just a compliment," the former world number 10 said.
"Someone told me, 'worry when they're not talking about you'.
"Wimbledon is the dream and always has been growing up. It's still the ultimate dream to win Wimbledon."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
