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Emma Raducanu’s brutal run of form and luck in Asia continued at the Wuhan Open as she retired because of illness from her first-round match at the WTA 1000 event, while trailing 6-1, 4-1 against Ann Li of the United States.
Raducanu is the latest player to crumble in tough conditions across China, with temperatures rising to 31 degrees with 67% humidity in Wuhan on Tuesday afternoon. Raducanu looked completely out of sorts throughout the match before getting her blood pressure checked late in the second set and citing dizziness as she retired.
Jannik Sinner, the men’s world No 2, remains the most high-profile competitor to come undone in suffocating humidity as he was forced to retire from his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Tallon Griekspoor on Sunday night.
With her mother originally hailing from China, Raducanu has repeatedly expressed her excitement at competing in Asia and, after being injured at this point of the season over the last few years, this marks the 22-year-old’s first full Asian swing. It has turned into quite a disastrous series of tournaments, with Raducanu suffering her worst results since February.
This miserable afternoon in Wuhan had been preceded by two excruciating defeats in back-to-back events despite performing at a good level against top opponents. Raducanu held three match points against the two-time grand slam champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second round at the Korea Open in Seoul before falling away in a one-sided third set, then she endured an identical scenario at the China Open in Beijing last week, losing to Jessica Pegula in the third round after also holding three match points.
Her poor form against Li, whom she had beaten at Eastbourne in June in their only previous encounter, initially seemed to be a direct result of those confidence-sapping losses. Despite opening the match with a break, Raducanu played a dire opening set, her forehand in particular haemorrhaging errors. After losing all three service games, Raducanu ended the set with three winners and 15 unforced errors.
While the Briton struggled to put forehands in court with any consistency, Li played well. She struck her own forehand impressively, sweeping up all short balls behind it, she soaked up Raducanu’s first strike well and she offered her opponent very few unforced errors.
Although Li’s form began to cool in set two, Raducanu was in no position to mount a comeback. She also began to struggle with her second serve, her double faults rapidly piling up, and her movement looked increasingly laboured. After somehow surviving four double faults in the opening game of set two to hold serve for the first time, Raducanu double-faulted at break point at 1-3 to hand Li a double break in the second set. Down 1-6, 1-4, Raducanu requested the doctor and, after having her blood pressure checked, she quickly retired.
These past few weeks have underlined the thin margins at the top of the sport. Having put herself in position for two strong wins in recent weeks, she instead finds herself in the midst of some of her most difficult results of her season. She will not have many more opportunities to turn things around before the end of the year. Raducanu is scheduled to take two weeks off before returning on 27 October for the final week of the regular season at the Hong Kong Open.
Raducanu had a new face in her player box in the form of Daniel Pohl, who sat next to her coach, Francisco Roig. Pohl is a prominent German physio and fitness trainer who has worked with numerous top players including Naomi Osaka, Ben Shelton, Matteo Berrettini and Petra Kvitova. Raducanu had been travelling without a fitness trainer since Yutaka Nakamura stopped working with the Briton on-site at tournaments in April for personal reasons.
Later on Tuesday, Novak Djokovic survived another oppressively humid evening in Shanghai as he dragged himself into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Jaume Munar despite vomiting on court and struggling physically throughout the second half of the match.
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Djokovic had been troubled by an achilles injury at the beginning of the match, taking a medical time out early in the first set. As the match wore on, however, it was the harsh humidity that increasingly broke him down.
He struggled with cramps and vomited in the second set, and after conceding that in 74 minutes at the end of a long, attritional rally, the 38-year-old fell to the ground and lay there for nearly a minute. He was helped to his chair by a doctor, where his vital signs were checked and he received some tablets.
Djokovic eventually found enough energy and intensity to hold off his more physically durable challenger and return to the last eight, where he will be the highest-ranked player left in the draw. He will face Zizou Bergs of Belgium for a place in the semi-final.
