Emma Raducanu’s physical struggles continue in first-round defeat at Ningbo Open
Emma Raducanu’s physical struggles continued as the British No 1 was hampered by a back injury during her first-round defeat at the Ningbo Open in China.
Raducanu lost from a set up and took two medical timeouts against the 31-year-old Chinese player Lin Zhu, who won 3-6 6-4 6-1 in two hours and 27 minutes.
Having retired from her first-round match at Wuhan Open last week after suffering under the extreme heat and humidity in China, Raducanu received her first medical timeout in the second set and had her blood pressure taken.
The conditions were again challenging in Ningbo, with 89 per cent humidity, while Raducanu’s movement was also severely limited in the final set as she stretched out her back.
Raducanu took another medical timeout three games into the third set, where she received extensive treatment on her lower back. Although she did not quit, the match ceased to be competitive as Zhu won the final four games in a row.
The defeat continues an extremely difficult Asian swing for the 22-year-old, who has now lost her last five matches in a row that have gone to a deciding third set and has a 5-9 record in three-set matches this season.
The former US Open champion squandered match points in her agonising defeats to World No 7 Jessica Pegula at the China Open in Beijing and two-time grand slam singles champion Barbora Krejcikova at the Korea Open in Seoul.
Raducanu lost 6-0 to Pegula in the final set and 6-1 to Krejcikova, and it was a similar story against Zhu as the Chinese player raced away with a 6-1 final set after Raducanu received her second medical timeout.
Before arriving at the Ningbo Open, Raducanu had indicated that she had continued to receive medical attention in Wuhan following her second-set retirement against Ann Li, which was the first time she had retired from a match this season.
She posted on social media a few days ago: “Last day at the doctor’s in Wuhan… feeling better now. Shame I couldn’t continue there but thank you for the messages.”
Raducanu is entered to play her final event of the season at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, which begins on 27 October. However, after struggling physically in her last two matches the Briton may decide to call time on her season.
Raducanu was the favourite to progress against the home player Zhu, whose ranking had slipped from a career-high of 31 two years ago to 219 in the world after missing an extended part of last season due to injury.
But the alarm bells were soon ringing for Raducanu as she was pushed into a gruelling final game of the opening set. After four consecutive breaks of serve, Raducanu served out the opener on her fifth set point to take it 6-3 after almost an hour of play.
The pattern of the match continued into the second set, with Raducanu immediately going a break down. When Raducanu earned a second break back to trail 3-4 in the second set, following a lengthy game, the 22-year-old called her first medical timeout.
Raducanu, who suffered dizziness in Wuhan as temperatures hit 36C, wrapped herself in a towel and had her blood pressure taken as two trainers attended to her on court.
Despite Raducanu returning from the timeout to hold serve, Zhu broke her opponent for the third time in the set and overcame her struggles on serve to take the second 6-4.
Raducanu lost her serve again at the start of the third set, and began to clutch her lower back and stretch between points. Despite earning a break back, Raducanu immediately took another medical timeout, this time for treatment on the lower back injury.
Although Raducanu did not quit, the match was over as a contest after the Briton again lost her serve. Zhu won the final four games in row to set up a second-round match with the top seed Mirra Andreeva.
“It was a very tough match, I couldn’t find my rhythm, but I kept moving, kept patient, to get the rhythm, to get the final set,” Zhu said. “Also, there were some issues with Emma in the final set. It’s not easy for both of us, it’s very near the end of the season.”
