Just In: Emma Raducanu suffers another big rankings drop as 92-day absence continues
Emma Raducanu has taken another tumble down the WTA rankings after skipping the US Open to focus on her health. The young Brit, who shocked the world by winning her only Grand Slam title in New York five years ago, decided not to compete in this year’s tournament because of a stress fracture in her right leg.
The injury developed over the course of the clay season and worsened in the summer, leaving Raducanu unable to reach peak fitness in time for the US Open. She has not played a match in 92 days, when she lost to Donna Vekic in the final at Queen’s Club just before Wimbledon. As a result, her WTA ranking has taken a massive hit.
Raducanu was named on the entry list earlier this month and will be hoping to find some form as she looks to avoid slipping even further down the pecking order.
Last year, she reached the third round of the China Open, defeating Cristina Bucsa in her opening match before losing to Jessica Pegula.
Raducanu won the first set against Pegula but had no answers when the latter’s quality began to shine through, eventually falling to a 3-6 7-6 7-0 defeat.
Speaking afterwards, Pegula said: “That was a crazy match. It was a lot of fun. The tiebreak was intense, but I got myself back in and kept the pressure on.
When she [Raducanu] hit the double fault, I knew I was still playing some good tennis, and it was right there. I got a little lucky with my two backhand winners.
“Other than that I tried to keep fighting for as long as I could. The crowd was awesome, this court has been good to me and I’m excited to play here. I’m happy I got through tonight and I’ll try to rest and recover.”
