EMMA RADUCANU revealed her hand and foot ballooned up after being bitten by JUMPING ANTS.
The British star, 22, is in Melbourne preparing for the Australian Open which kicks off on Sunday.
She was forced to withdraw from her warm-up tournament in Auckland in New Zealand due to a back spasm triggered when she was tying up her shoelaces before practice.
Then after flying to Australia, the Kent ace suffered further problems usually saved for I’m A Celebrity contestants thanks to the indigenous insects.
Raducanu said: “I got bitten really badly by these jumping ants.
“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.”
Raducanu, though, refused to be treated with a spray amid fears of accidentally doping.
Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek both failed drugs tests last year.
Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing but the decision has been appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency who want the world No1 hit with a ban.
Swiatek, meanwhile, was handed a one-month suspension following her contaminated results from medicine for jet lag.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek handed ban from tennis after positive doping test ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6365297863112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Now tennis players, including Raducanu, are being extra vigilant to avoid any unfortunate and unexpected incidents.
She added: “All of us are quite sensitive to what we use.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D102321%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]“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.’”
[boxout headline=”Australia’s jumping ants” featured-image=”32725697″]THE Jack Jumper Ant is a species of venomous ant native to Australia.
Stinging ants can cause severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis). Allergic reactions to Jack Jumper Ants are a uniquely Australian problem.
Jack Jumper Ants are generally 10 to 15mm long with a black body and orange/brown jaws/pincers and limbs.
Jack Jumper Ants do not bite. They grasp the victim in their jaws, then bend and sting them. Their sting is in the tail. They are aggressive and often display jerky, jumping movements.
The stings of Jack Jumper Ants can be very painful and local swellings are common. Large local swellings can also occur, which may last a few days at a time.
Jack Jumper Ants are found in Tasmania, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia and in some parts of Western Australia and Queensland.
The ants can be aggressive and often hunt alone.
Source: ASCIA
Raducanu will play No26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in her first-round match of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
They were due to meet at the same stage of Wimbledon last year but the Russian withdrew just hours before stepping on to court.
The 2021 US Open winner could face a third-round showdown with No2 seed Swiatek in round three.
And the tough draw means a tennis supercomputer has given her just a 0.4 per cent chance of repeating her Flushing Meadows heroics and going all the way to winning the title Down Under.
