U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has no idea if she would be fit to play at Wimbledon, the 19-year-old said after a “freak injury” forced her to retire from her opening match at the WTA 250 event in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Britain’s Raducanu retired when she was a break down at 4-3 in the opening set against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, nearly half an hour into the match after she suffered what appeared to be a side strain.
Raducanu reached the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2021 but will need a quick recovery to compete at this year’s tournament which will be held from June 27 to July 10.
“First game, absolute freak. I think I pulled something. I’m not really sure what exactly happened. I just came off court,” Raducanu told British media.
“It’s on the side of my body. It feels, I don’t know, maybe around my rib or something.”
Asked if she would be fit for Wimbledon, Raducanu said: “I’ve got no idea.
“It could’ve just seized up and spasmed and then it’s really bad for a few days. But I’ve got no idea. I can’t diagnose myself, so I’ll get it checked out.”
Raducanu, who has been without a full-time coach since April, shot to stardom last September when, as a qualifier, she won the U.S. Open title, becoming Britain’s first female Grand Slam champion since Virginia Wade in 1977.
She has, however, suffered a string of fitness issues since winning her maiden Grand Slam title and was eliminated in the second round of the French Open last month.
“I am obviously disappointed and it is really bad luck,” Raducanu added.
“You just want to catch a break but I haven’t really. That’s out of my control, but right now all I can focus on is what I am doing and I think I am doing a lot of good work.”
Wimbledon had its ranking points taken away by the men’s ATP and women’s WTA after it opted to exclude players from Russia and Belarus because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”. Belarus has been a key staging area for the invasion.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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