Hours before her first-round match at the Madrid Open, British No. 1 Emma Raducanu withdrew due to a hand injury. On Wednesday, the 20-year-old was supposed to compete against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova.
Due to Raducanu’s withdrawal, she is almost guaranteed to leave the top 100 in the world. A wrist issue has recently become a problem for the 2021 US Open winner.
In her most recent match, Raducanu lost to Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-1, in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart this month. As a result, she fell to number 85 in the global rankings.
She chose to miss Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup loss to France to be ready for the season’s clay court portion. She had previously lost in the first round of the Miami Open to Bianca Andreescu, therefore her loss in Stuttgart marked a two-match losing streak.
During the struggle with Andreescu, Raducanu complained of soreness in her right wrist and stated that a long-term medical solution was required. Her 2022 season was prematurely terminated by the injury, which again flared up before this month’s Indian Wells tournament when Raducanu made it to the round of 16 despite having tonsillitis during her training.
Only 10 games have been played by Raducanu this season, and she is set to compete in the Italian Open in Rome on May 8 before the French Open starts on May 28.
