Emma Raducanu has posted a brief statement on social media after pulling out of the China Open. The Brit retired from her Korea Open quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina on Saturday due to an injury she is yet to recover from.
A first set which lasted just over half an hour was all Raducanu could muster against Kasatkina, bringing to an end what had otherwise been a positive four days in Seoul.
The foot injury which scuppered Raducanu’s chances of glory in South Korea was always going to leave her in a race against time to be ready for Beijing. And she has now confirmed that the tournament will come too soon for her to compete.
“Hello,” the 21-year-old wrote on X. “Last week in Seoul I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal. It means I can’t play in Beijing but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can.”
Chinese tennis fans thought they would get the chance to watch Raducanu in action when her name appeared in the women’s draw on Monday, but her withdrawal was made official shortly afterwards.
The Brit was handed a tough route into the latter stages of the tournament including a projected second-round meeting with world No 7 Qinwen Zheng.
Raducanu had built up a head of steam after the disappointment of a first-round US Open exit last month. Her exploits in Seoul have catapulted her up to 54th in the WTA rankings – the highest she has been for over two years.
But Raducanu’s momentum has been halted by her latest injury setback which, at least for the time being, has ruined her plans to tackle the Asian hard-court swing head-on.
“I always knew there was a really long block in Asia at the end of the year and I didn’t want to overdo myself in the first half of the year,” she said earlier this summer. “I have to prioritise and Asia was one of those for me.
“I stacked the year on the back-end [of the season] because I’m excited. I thrive in Asia. It’s where I truly feel like home. I think for the rest of the year, as long as I’m healthy, I’m going to try and finish the season and play as many matches as I can.”
Raducanu has missed the chance to surge up the world rankings by putting together a deep run at the China Open – a WTA 1000 event in which she had no ranking points to defend from last season. The Brit will hope to recover in time for the Wuhan Open, which offers the same number of ranking points and begins on October 7.
