Emma Raducanu has pulled out of the Madrid Open ahead of her first-round match. The British No 1 has been struggling with several physical setbacks this year and withdrew citing a right hand injury. It means that she will fall out of the world’s top 100 for the first time since winning the 2021 US Open.
Raducanu has suffered a fresh setback as she withdrew from the Madrid Open just over three hours before she was scheduled to take to the court for her opening match against lucky loser Viktoriya Tomova. The world No 85 cited a hand injury for her withdrawal, having recently been struggling with her wrists.
The 20-year-old’s latest physical problem has come up at a tough time, as Raducanu was defending 120 ranking points in Madrid after reaching the round-of-16 last year. After pulling out, she is now guaranteed to see her ranking drop outside of the world’s top 100.
It will mark the first time that Raducanu will have a triple-digit ranking since she won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier. At the time, she was ranked down at No 150 in the world and shot into the top 25 after winning 10 matches in a row without dropping a set to become the first qualifier ever to lift a Major trophy.
The rankings drop also comes at a tricky time for Raducanu, with the entry deadline for Wimbledon coming on May 22. It means there is now just one more big tournament where the Brit can try and gain some points in an attempt to push her ranking high enough to make the main draw.
The Italian Open gets underway on May 8 and even then, Raducanu could be in a race against time to recover before the final WTA 1000 event of the clay season depending on the severity of her injury. But if she doesn’t make it into the Wimbledon main draw through her own ranking, there is no doubt that the All England Club would offer the country’s most recent Grand Slam singles champion a wildcard.
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