Emma Raducanu injured her foot during the 2024 Korea Open in Seoul, and she’s yet to come back from that as her withdrawal from the Wuhan Open was just announced.
This part of the season was supposed to be the one for Raducanu, who made a shocking admission recently about her scheduling choices. The Brit openly confirmed that she held back earlier this year, wanting to play as much as possible in this part of the calendar.
She wanted to play in Asia as a person with roots in the continent. China, in particular, was the most important country for her because her mother hails from China, and she spent a lot of time there as a kid.
She even speaks fluent Mandarin, further highlighting her connection with the country. She never got a proper chance to play in China because the events in the country didn’t return until last year, and she was injured last year.
This year was finally supposed to be her chance to play in the country, but it hasn’t gone according to plan. Raducanu's first stop in Asia was Korea, where she played very well.
She won a couple of matches and advanced to the quarter-final, where she faced Daria Kasatkina. However, the match didn’t go well. Struggling with a foot issue, Raducanu retired from the match but remained hopeful that she would be able to play as soon as possible.
The China Open in Beijing was ruled out fairly quickly, but the Wuhan Open was still an option for the 2021 US Open winner. It’s not anymore because the Brit officially withdrew from that WTA 1000 event, which is a huge blow because these events weren’t important only because they were in China.
They were WTA 1000 events with lots of points to be won, and Raducanu needed points to avoid complicated draws. She controversially didn't play in the qualifying this year in Cincinnati, so improving her ranking sufficiently enough to avoid that is certainly a goal.
As she had to miss both events, she will miss out on her biggest chance to make tangible improvements on the rankings. The more pressing issue with yet another injury is her inability to keep herself healthy.
She’s dealt with lots of injuries so far in her career, missing much of last year because of a triple surgery she had to undergo earlier that year. That’s very concerning because she’s very young but also didn't get to play a lot of tennis.
She’s barely played any tennis over the past couple of years, and seemingly, anytime she does play a little, her body breaks down. That won’t be good enough to build a successful career, and it’s very concerning for Raducanu and her fans.
The British player is still on the entry lists for the Guangzhou Open and the Hong Kong Open, which are coming up in the weeks ahead.
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