Emma Raducanu has revealed that she has no toenails left as she prepares for her first professional clay match.
The 19-year-old US Open champion will make her debut in the Billy Jean King Cup qualifiers when she faces Theresa Martintsova while Britain plays the Czech Republic in Prague on Friday and Saturday.
However, the British number one admitted that she had another failure after the failed start of 2022 due to blisters and a thigh injury.
During the towing ceremony in Prague, she said: “I don’t have toenails. Only my foot, my shoes, they just slip a lot.
“I had a little thing in Miami, but now I don’t have physical things.”
Britain’s captain Anne Keotawong joked: “We are all a little scar on Emma’s toes.”
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1:05 “I will continue to impose boundaries”
Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title in New York last year, securing a spectacular victory at Flushing Meadows after an impressive breakthrough at Wimbledon.
She was 150th in August last year and is now 12th in the women’s rankings.
But she has never played with glue, which is the slowest and most difficult of all pavements.
The teenager said: “I sincerely believe that clay can be one of my strongest surfaces because of the moving aspect. I love to move.
“I feel I have a lot more potential physically. And I really enjoy sliding. Having spent more time on this surface, I am sure I will separate it better and learn more about the surface.
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