Emma Raducanu will be hoping to attack the grass-court season this year, given it is a surface she has enjoyed success on in the past.
And, given it is only a short part of the tennis calendar, the opportunities to compete on it are sparse.
In the past, Eastbourne and Nottingham have been a large part of her Wimbledon preparation, but this year she has also opted to take part in Queen’s, which is allowing women to compete for the first time since 1973.
It was a historic opportunity that the Brit could not pass up, but one decision she has made might be risking her chances of playing in the next big Grand Slam.
After all, her latest fitness update was far from ideal.
Emma Raducanu delivers fitness update ahead of Queen’s
Speaking ahead of Queen’s earlier this week, Emma Raducanu admitted: ‘I got back from Paris last week and then I got straight back on the court.
‘I had a small interruption with a bit of a back spasm again, which was a bit annoying and that hindered my grass prep. But the last few days I have managed to get on the grass.
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‘I can’t really predict the future. I know I have been managing my back for the last few weeks now and it’s something that comes and goes.
‘It can be frustrating. I try not to let it get to me because I have a pretty good feel when it happens of how to manage it. All I can do is deal with what’s in front of me.
‘Today was the first day I opened it up and played points on the grass. It is pretty early days and I can’t say I have had a lot of prep on it.’
She therefore admitted that she is not putting too much pressure on results in the coming weeks, noting: ‘Of course you want to win this tournament, like every tournament, but especially when it’s at home. But my expectations are pretty low.’
Raducanu headlines an already strong Queen’s lineup this year as the women return to action at this event.
Could Emma Raducanu be doing too much ahead of Wimbledon?
It feels like, when expectations are low is when Raducanu thrives.
Nobody expected a qualifier to win the US Open, yet she accomplished it. Nobody expected her to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon last year with such ease, yet the 22-year-old managed to.
Clearly thriving in the underdog role, it feels like she will certainly be given that mantle once again heading into these next few events.
However, with such a recurring back injury, there’s a worry that she might actually be putting too much on her plate ahead of Wimbledon.
After all, even if they exit early, Raducanu’s decision to play doubles with Katie Boulter at Queen’s alongside singles might be putting additional unnecessary effort onto a body that has broken down routinely in the past.
And with Eastbourne and the German Open potentially to come too, all before Wimbledon, there’s a fear that she may be risking too much.
Annabel Croft certainly thought as much, noting after her first win: ‘[There wasn’t] any sign of that whatsoever, if her back was really bad, I don’t think we’d see her be playing doubles with Katie Boulter, you wouldn’t want to stress your body any more than you would want to. I think some of these niggles, it’s a little bit like when you agree to run the marathon, you start feeling like your legs and knees are hurting before you go out there to run it.’
Decisions like this can either go one of two ways: she could find form and fitness and put herself in the perfect position for a strong campaign at the All England Club, or struggle once again to be fit enough to compete.
Hopefully, it’s the former that rings true by the time Wimbledon comes around.