Giving Emma a main draw wildcard was probably a very wise move. Not only has she excelled but it has made it physically less demanding than it might have been. If she had played in the qualifying tournament she would have had to play five very tough matches, probably all against higher ranked players, to get where she is now. We have seen too many young players burn fiercely for a few years and then fade as injuries take over.
What may help Emma in the longer term is that while her talent was recognised ( though were we expecting this now - no ) she has not burned too much in the 16-18 years, with her concentration on her studies and limited competition time.
I think she did previously have some injury issues which were supposedly growing related. So maybe that added in to the mix with her studies in detetmining her and those around her to take things more steadily.
Giving Emma a main draw wildcard was probably a very wise move. Not only has she excelled but it has made it physically less demanding than it might have been. If she had played in the qualifying tournament she would have had to play five very tough matches, probably all against higher ranked players, to get where she is now. We have seen too many young players burn fiercely for a few years and then fade as injuries take over.
I don't think that playing three matches in three days, having four to five days off, playing a match, having a break day, playing another match, having a rest day, playing another... is really likely to cause an over-use injury. It's lighter than most training weeks. And shouldn't be avoided on that basis.
As Indy says, Emma has done well not to put too much stress on her body during growth years. And her list of other sporting activities is huge - which is great - because there's nothing better than doing a wide range of sports in order to develop overall fitness which will protect the body from the specific strains that tennis brings.
(Freak injuries, obviously, can occur at any time)
Giving Emma a main draw wildcard was probably a very wise move. Not only has she excelled but it has made it physically less demanding than it might have been. If she had played in the qualifying tournament she would have had to play five very tough matches, probably all against higher ranked players, to get where she is now. We have seen too many young players burn fiercely for a few years and then fade as injuries take over.
I don't think that playing three matches in three days, having four to five days off, playing a match, having a break day, playing another match, having a rest day, playing another... is really likely to cause an over-use injury. It's lighter than most training weeks. And shouldn't be avoided on that basis.
As Indy says, Emma has done well not to put too much stress on her body during growth years. And her list of other sporting activities is huge - which is great - because there's nothing better than doing a wide range of sports in order to develop overall fitness which will protect the body from the specific strains that tennis brings.
(Freak injuries, obviously, can occur at any time)
I agree, I think a lot of the niggling injuries the women are sustaining are over training issues rather than tennis playing issues. Something the LTA need to be looking at closely.