Australian Open RECAP: Medvedev loses temper in 3am slugfest as Alcaraz spies on Djokovic

Emma Raducanu insists she has been made ‘tougher’ by her eight-month absence from tennis.

The Briton insinuated that she might have retired from her Australian Open defeat against Wang Yafan a year ago – but said her opponent would have to beat her on the court to knock her out of the tournament.

“Honestly I’ve been in that situation before in matches, whether it was with illness or injury, and retired a few times,” Raducanu said.

“With what I went through last year, you feel awful right now. At some points I couldn’t really see the ball very well, but I think with everything I went through last year, it’s made me so much tougher.

“There was no way I was going to pull out. She was going to have to beat me, and she did. She served it out.

“I think the last year off and also just with the amount of niggles and everything that I had, the setbacks, it did make me a lot tougher.”