British tennis star Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her first-round match at the Wuhan Open after falling ill and needing her blood pressure checked on court.
The 22-year-old world No. 30 was trailing 6-1, 4-1 to American Ann Li when she called a medical timeout. Tournament doctors were seen checking her temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure before she decided to withdraw from the match.
Struggles in tough conditions
Raducanu appeared visibly unwell throughout the second set, at times skipping balls and looking dazed on court. The conditions in Wuhan were punishing, with the temperature hovering around 35°C and humidity at 60 percent.
She had started brightly, breaking Li in the opening game, but the American quickly found rhythm to reel off six straight games and take the first set 6-1. Li continued her dominance early in the second set before Raducanu required medical attention.
Li, ranked 46 in the world, expressed concern for her opponent after the match. “First I want to wish Emma a fast recovery,” she said. “Not sure what happened, but it looked like she wasn’t feeling good. I hope she gets better soon.”
Season so far
The retirement marks a setback for Raducanu, who had shown encouraging signs in her recent Asian swing. She reached the third round in Beijing after a strong win over Cristina Bucsa and had taken top-seed Jessica Pegula to three sets.
Speaking before her Wuhan campaign, Raducanu said she felt she was “improving and making progress” despite missing chances to close out earlier matches. “I know I’m doing good work day-to-day to get there,” she said.
Li, meanwhile, notched her first win of the Asian circuit and advanced to the second round, where she will face ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Medical concern and next steps
The exact nature of Raducanu’s illness remains unclear, but early signs suggest it was related to the intense heat and humidity. The WTA has not yet released an official medical update.
Raducanu will hope to recover quickly ahead of the next leg of the Asian hard-court swing as she looks to regain fitness and form heading into the season’s final tournaments.
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