Raducanu is making her BJK Cup debut this weekend as Britain’s top player. In what was her first match at the team event and her professional debut on a clay court yesterday, she won through 7-5 7-5 over the Czech Republic’s Tereza Martincova to clinch a crucial point for her home team but it was a different story in Saturday’s rubber as she was defeated in under an hour.
The US Open champion was seen wincing and limping around the court, failing to chase down balls as she required an off-court medical time out after the first set. Following her 6-1 6-1 defeat to the 2019 French Open finalist, Raducanu admitted she had bathed her feet in “surgical spirit”.
Appearing visibly uncomfortable on the court throughout the match as commentators speculated whether she would retire, the 19-year-old has now said she felt “completely redundant and helpless” against the world No 32, who Raducanu had beat at Wimbledon while ranked down at world No 338 in her Grand Slam debut last year.
JUST IN: Medvedev’s Wimbledon ban threat slammed by Djokovic’s ex-coach
Raducanu’s loss to Vondrousova meant the Czech team took a 2-1 points lead in the qualifier tie. It is now up to Harriet Dart to keep Great Britain alive in her singles clash against Linda Fruhvirtova, who Czech captain Petr Pala swapped in for Tereza Martincova last-minute following Raducanu’s loss.
If the British squad wins the tie, they will qualify for a place in the BJK Cup Finals at the end of the season. If they lose, they will compete in the play-offs which are held in the same week as the Finals, to determine whether they get another shot at the qualifier stage next year or drop down even further to World Group I.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
