British tennis star Emma Raducanu admits she needs ‘time to heal’ with a new foot injury ruling her out of a blockbuster clash at the China Open.
The 21-year-old had been in fine form and was on the verge of returning to the world’s top 50 before she was forced to retire injured from her Korea Open quarter-final on Saturday.
Raducanu faced a race against time to get herself fit for the China Open, the penultimate WTA 1000 event of 2024, which begins on Wednesday in Beijing.
She was due to face a qualifier in the first round and was then projected for a blockbuster clash against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen – China’s world No.7.
But after spraining ligaments in her foot, she has been forced to withdraw from the China Open, and will now focus on her recovery to return ‘as soon as she can’.
‘Last week in Seoul I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal,’ Raducanu posted on her official X account.
‘It means I can’t play in Beijing but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can.’
Raducanu, who burst onto the scene in 2021 by winning the US Open, has enjoyed a resurgent 2024 after long-term injury problems in 2023 and 2022.
She has impressively defeated two world top 10 players this year, which came at the Eastbourne International and Wimbledon respectively.
Raducanu has also reached five WTA quarter-finals this season, showing her quality and ability to compete with the very best players on several occasions.
The Briton, who was ranked inside the world top 10 herself in 2022, recently admitted that she had been ‘nursing a few niggles’.
Raducanu is next scheduled to play in Wuhan, China on October 7 but it remains to be seen if she will recover in time.