Raducanu in race against time as Wimbledon stars stage prize money protest

Emma Raducanu’s pre-Wimbledon press conference was postponed on Saturday after the British No 1 cut short a practice session with strapping on her right shin, intensifying fears that she could miss Monday’s first-round match against Antonia Ruzic. The 23-year-old, who reached the fourth round at SW19 last year before losing to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, has been “managing a niggle” this week, sources revealed. She had not practised for five days before emerging at Aorangi Park on Saturday afternoon, then lost four games in a row during a practice set against Anna Kalinskaya and made a “cut” gesture to end the session 10 minutes early after complaining to her coach Andrew Richardson about her struggles to move. Raducanu was due to face media after practice but pushed that to Sunday – a move that suggests she is not confident of playing, especially after she regretted conducting a confident press conference in Rome before immediately pulling out of that tournament. Tournament regulations mean that if she withdraws after being entered into Friday’s draw, she will still receive 50 per cent of first-round prize money, £80,000. A final decision is expected after practice on Sunday. Meanwhile, leading players are limiting their media appearances to a symbolic 15 minutes on the eve of the Championships as part of a continuing protest over prize money. Defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka are among those taking part. Wimbledon’s overall prize money has risen to £64.2 million, a 20 per cent increase, but the players want their share of grand‑slam revenues to reach 22 per cent; they believe their share of this year’s revenues stands at less than 15 per cent. Coco Gauff, who also cut her press conference short, explained: “We definitely welcome and appreciate the increase. It's still below what happened in 2016, below the 16 per cent share that we were asking for.” Not every player is involved. British No 1 Cameron Norrie called the increase “absolutely huge” and praised Wimbledon for taking “such good care of the players”. Elsewhere, veteran commentator Andrew Castle said he was “upset” to learn that this would be his last Wimbledon for the BBC; he will step down entirely after this year’s tournament. Serena Williams is also set to make her return to Wimbledon on Tuesday after learning her first-round opponent for her first singles match in four years.