The process of adjusting to the rigours and intensity of a full season always stood as a challenging task for Emma Raducanu after her US Open victory, but, even so, her inability to remain healthy has been alarming.
Some sort of ailment has affected her during most weeks of this year and it played a defining role once more in her Italian Open debut on Tuesday. After blisters, a hip injury, back issues, illness and medical timeouts, Raducanu’s struggles to find a sustained period of good health continued as she was forced to retire early in the second set of her high-profile first-round match against Bianca Andreescu with a lower back injury, an imperious Andreescu moving on after Raducanu retired as she trailed 6-2, 2-1.
