Emma Raducanu withdraws from major China tournament after latest injury blow

Emma Raducanu has been forced to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing due to a foot injury, in a major blow to the 21-year-old’s end of season plans.

The former US Open champion retired from her Korea Open quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina on Saturday.

“Last week in Seoul I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal,” the British No 2 said on Monday afternoon in a post on Twitter/X.

“It means I can’t play in Beijing but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can.”

Raducanu was included in the draw for the WTA 1000 event, which begins on Wednesday, and was scheduled to face a qualifier in the first round.

If Raducanu progressed, she would have faced home favourite and Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, the fifth seed, in the second round.

The China Open is one of two major events on the hardcourt Asia swing, along with next month’s Wuhan Open, and carries significant rankings points for reaching the latter stages of the tournament.

With no ranking points to defend from last season, Raducanu had targeted both events in China and said she hoped to “play as many matches as I can” before the end of the year.

The British No 2 suggested that she made mistakes in her scheduling after taking the decision to only play in Washington before her first-round US Open exit to Sofia Kenin.

Raducanu secured back-to-back wins at the Korea Open, including a gruelling battle against Peyton Stearns in almost three hours.

She had the opportunity to advance to just her second WTA semi-final since winning the US Open but retired from her quarter-final against top seed Kasatkina after losing the first set 6-1.

Raducanu’s wins in Korea boosted her ranking 18 places to 54th in the world, with the opportunity for further improvement at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing.

Raducanu’s latest injury is also a tough blow on a personal level. Her mother in Chinese and Raducanu was hoping to make her appearance in the country, having missed the end of last season after undergoing wrist and ankle surgeries.

Defending China Open champion and World No 1 Iga Swiatek has also withdrawn from the tournament, citing personal reasons, which gives top seed Aryna Sabalenka the chance to close the gap in the world rankings.