Emma Raducanu’s promising Seoul campaign came to an end in a very unfortunate way as the British tennis star was forced to retire her quarterfinal match versus Daria Kasatkina due to a left foot injury.
After rain halted play for the entire day, the 21-year-old and the top seed hit the court on Saturday to finally play their match. But unfortunately for fans and the Briton, the clash lasted only 32 minutes and ended moments after the Russian won the opening set with a 6-1 scoreline.
At the very start of the match, Raducanu missed out on two break points – then lost her serve in the second game – but managed to get the break back instantly in the following game. That was all from the former world No. 10 as in she lost the next four games.
Down 1-4, the 2022 Seoul semifinalist called a medical time-out for what appeared to be a foot/left ankle issue. Initially, she tried to continue but it was evidently negatively impacting her movement and serve.
Raducanu was hoping to stay injury-free in Asia
Earlier this week, the 21-year-old highlighted that her plan was to play full schedule in Asia and admitted that she was hoping for good health.
“I always knew there was a really long block in Asia at the end of the year and I didn’t want to overdo myself in the first half of the year. If you look at the tournaments I played it was relatively light. I skipped quite a few weeks over the clay knowing that I’m at the stage where I’m not trying to win every event on the clay, on the grass and hard,” she told WTA Insider.
“I have to prioritize and Asia was one of those for me. So I stacked the year on the backend heavy, because I’m excited. I thrive in Asia. It’s where I truly feel like home. So I’m buzzing for that trip even though it’s at the end of the year. I’m looking forward to going out there and trying to take it.
Next week, the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing is starting and it remains to be seen if Raducanu will be able to play.
