Emma Raducanu withdraws from another tournament as Brit’s schedule shrinks again

Emma Raducanu has been dealt another blow after it was confirmed she would miss the Wuhan Open with injury. The 21-year-old was set to go through qualifying for the tournament in China, but her name was notably missing when the draw was released by organisers on Wednesday. The 21-year-old has enjoyed something of a renaissance in 2024, fighting her way back to No.54 in the world rankings, having previously dropped outside the top 300.

But her progress was halted at the Korea Open last month, picking up an ankle injury in her last-16 match with Yuan Yue. She still managed to come through that clash with a straight-sets victory, but was clearly still hampered in her quarter-final with Daria Kasatkina. And after losing the opening set 6-1, she retired hurt and later took to social media to clarify the situation. “Hello, last week in Seoul I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal,” she wrote. “It means I can’t play in Beijing (China Open) but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can.”

It means a second consecutive tournament withdrawal for the 2021 US Open champion, who is still searching for a first tournament win since her very own fairytale of New York. And it further dwindles her hopes of returning to the world’s top 50 by the end of 2024. Raducanu’s fitness struggles have plagued her for the past three years, previously taking time out from competitive action to work on strength and conditioning. And the latest development comes in the same week she was criticised by Kieron Vorster for her lack of playing time.

Vorster, who served as fitness coach to Tim Henman, said: “She just doesn’t play enough matches. She plays an abbreviated clay court season, because she’s got a long grass court season and hard court season coming up and she doesn’t want to be burnt out or get injured. “Then she was hurt against Lulu Sun in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, then plays one hard court event, goes to the US Open undercooked and loses first round.” He added that her “abbreviated schedule is just mind-blowing.”

At SW19 this summer, Raducanu courted controversy after announcing she would be joining Andy Murray in the mixed doubles. However, having progressed past the first week in her individual campaign, she withdrew from their first round clash, citing soreness in her wrist. It denied the legendary Scot a farewell match at his home Slam, with mum Judy labelling Raducanu’s decision “astonishing.” She was then beaten by Lulu Sun in the fourth round, her best run at a Slam since her maiden triumph at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu had been set to enter three upcoming tournaments, the Ningbo Open (October 14-20), Guangzhou Open (October 21-27) and the Hong Kong Open (October 28-November 3). It now appears unclear if she will return to action in time for the first of those events in Hangzhou Bay.