Emma Raducanu’s newest harm is brought on by JUMPING ANTS as British tennis star, 22, refuses antiseptic over doping fears

After shaking off a back spasm caused by tying her laces and fighting off an attack of jumping ants, Emma Raducanu is ready to go at the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old cut a confident figure ahead of her first round but revealed that the previous day she had to seek medical attention after an encounter with one of Australia’s many indigenous species.

‘I got bitten really badly by these jumping ants,’ said Raducanu, who plays No26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Tuesday. ‘I had an allergic reaction, my hand and foot swelled up and I had to come on site to see the doctor and get some remedies. But I’m fine now.’

After last year’s furore over the doping tests failed by Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, Raducanu refused to use a spray to alleviate her symptoms.

‘All of us are quite sensitive to what we use,’ she said. ‘Someone was giving me this antiseptic spray to try to ease the bites. I was like, I’m just going to tough it out because I don’t want to risk it.’

Raducanu also clarified that the back ‘niggle’ which forced her out of the Auckland Open two weeks ago was a spasm which came on as she laced up her tennis shoes before practice.

Emma Raducanu was bitten on her hands and feet by jumping ants on Thursday

She refused to treat the bites with antiseptic spray due to concerns over contamination

Raducanu decided not to use a spray after Jannik Sinner (left) and Iga Swiatek (right) failed drugs tests last year

Despite these setbacks Raducanu is ready to go here in Melbourne and the early reports are that her partnership with fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura is going well.

The 52-year-old from Japan has been brought in with a brief to keep Raducanu on court more often and cut out the niggling injuries.

‘Yutaka has been a really good addition,’ said the world No60. ‘He has helped me a lot in terms of microdosing bits of fitness here and there, tapering, managing my loads. I’m someone who is always going to want to push more, train more so sometimes having him to pull me back has been helpful.

‘I already feel a difference when I step on the court, like I’m quite reactive and explosive. I think that stems from my warm-ups being not necessarily warm-ups, they’re more like a bit of a training session. I feel ready to go when I’m on the court.

‘Building a body, that’s a continuous process. It’s not something you put a timeline on. But I trust his work and trust his judgment.’