Emma Raducanu WITHDRAWS from Wimbledon: Gutted British No 1 forced to pull out through injury on eve of the tournament as scans show stress fracture
Emma Raducanu withdrew from Wimbledon on the eve of the tournament after a scan last night revealed she had suffered a stress fracture.
The British No 1 has been dealing with a problem in her lower leg for several weeks, but trained at the All England Club on Sunday and was planning to try in her first-round match against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic in the afternoon.
The former US Open champion was still wearing heavy straps around his right ankle and shin during training at Wimbledon on Sunday.
But just after 10pm on Sunday evening he said on Instagram: ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this but unfortunately I have had to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon.
‘I’ve done everything possible to get to the starting line tomorrow but after the final scan tonight, the niggle I was managing turned into a stress fracture and I’ve been medically advised to stop progressing.
‘Playing in front of your home crowd at Wimbledon means everything to me, so it’s really hard to digest.
‘I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement. It is very valuable, especially in a time like this. I look forward to seeing you when I get back.’
The grass court season, which started very well for Raducanu, ended horribly. The 23-year-old player reached the third final of her career at the Queen’s Club in the HSBC Championship and lost to Donna Vekic in the final.
However, there were danger signals in the 6-0, 7-6 defeat due to Raducanu’s inability to move freely. He withdrew from the Nottingham Open the following day and rejected the opportunity to play in Eastbourne the week after that.
Raducanu’s message, published on Instagram just after 22:00 on Sunday evening
This brought us to the week before Wimbledon but there was still no reason to believe his participation was in doubt. This all changed on Wednesday night when Raducanu was seen leaving the All England Club wearing a protective boot on his right foot.
We were told it was just a slight, but it was clear something was more seriously wrong. Raducanu did not train at Wimbledon between Monday and Saturday as he scheduled back-to-back one-hour training sessions. The first went well despite receiving treatment from physiotherapist Emma Stewart midway through the session, and in the second she batted with No. 19 seed Anna Kalinskaya.
Trailing Russia 4-0 in the training set, Raducanu nodded towards coach Andrew Richardson and interrupted training for 10 minutes. He later postponed his pre-tournament press conference for 24 hours. Raducanu was clearly playing to buy time at this stage, but when he appeared before the media on Sunday he appeared determined to play, or at least inclined to play.
I will do everything with my team regarding treatment and this is my current plan. This is our current plan; “to play,” he said.
Raducanu misses Nottingham and Eastbourne after reaching final at Queen’s
Before ‘Queen’s’, actually since the end of the clay court season, I’ve had a problem with my lower leg. I was managing. Five games (at Queen’s) after not competing for a while, I think that’s a lot of burden. But I’m managing this as best I can with my team, considering all options and doing the best we can.’
But a final scan of the injury late Sunday evening delivered bad news.
