Emotional Departure:Emma Raducanu waves Goodbye as she made her intention clear Sad News
Emma Raducanu in a race to be fit for a tournament – this time next month’s Billie Jean King Cup finals – is already a familiar story.
Since her historic US Open triumph in 2021, the British No.2 has made more headlines for her injuries and absences than for winning any more titles.
And now Raducanu, 21, has withdrawn from next week’s Hong Kong Open – the fifth consecutive event she has missed. It had been her last scheduled WTA event of a truncated season and so she cannot climb higher than her current ranking of world No.55.
This ranking should be put in the context of starting the year at world No.301 and making steady upward progress until reaching the Wimbledon fourth round. But this frustrating month has seen her career stall once more. It is her personal version of Groundhog Day.
During the grasscourt season she seemed to have put behind her the shocking performances at the Madrid Masters – where even her GB captain Anne Keothavong accused her of lacking “heart” – and skipping French Open qualifying.
She reached the semi-finals in Nottingham and beat her first top-ten player – Jessica Pegula – at Eastbourne.
But after annoying the Murray camp by pulling out of the mixed doubles after agreeing to play with Andy at Wimbledon, she has made more poor decisions.
When she lost in the first round of the US Open, she tearfully admitted she had not played enough in the build-up to the last Grand Slam of the season. After getting refused wildcards in Cincinnati and Toronto, she had decided to return home.
And now her plan to backload the end of her season with lots of events in Asia has backfired since she sprained foot ligaments in the quarter-finals of the Korea Open on September 21.
Now back training at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, she has had to rehab and rebuild her fitness again.
Playing and winning two Billie Jean King Cup ties against France in April – including against world No.23 Caroline Garcia – was a rare highlight this season. Her presence in Malaga would be great for the team, the tournament and for her.
But she turns 22 two days before the quarter-final tie with Germany on November 15 – and that is now nearly three years of her body not being robust enough to handle the rigours of the WTA Tour. When she dropped her usual guard to break down in tears in Flushing Meadows in August admitting she felt “sad”, it was hard not to feel sorry for her.
