Emma Raducanu will drop out of the world’s top 100 for the first time since her US Open win after pulling out of the Madrid Open with her latest injury setback.
The 20-year-old had been scheduled to face Viktoriya Tomova in her first-round match on Wednesday afternoon but, hours before being due to step out on court in the Spanish capital, she withdrew with a right-hand injury.
Raducanu needed to win her opening two matches to keep her place in the world’s top 100 and faces a battle to climb back up to the upper echelons of the WTA Tour.
Her latest injury setback comes just 24 hours after the British No1 gave just 58 words of answers in response to 16 questions in her pre-tournament press conference.
The interview was brought to a close after just three minutes with the mediator saying, “I think let’s just leave it there”.
Events in Madrid will inevitably lead to question marks about both her physical and mental wellbeing after also suffering three straight defeats in her only matches of the last month.
Raducanu has been beset by a number of injury problems since that fairytale Grand Slam title win in New York but has kept a perpetually positive demeanour in her press conferences prior to Madrid on Tuesday.
Should she fail to turn around her form on court, she may yet have to rely on a wildcard to enter Wimbledon, which would be guararanteed by organisers such is her appeal to British fans.
It is unclear how bad the latest injury is. She is scheduled to play on clay at the Italian Open in Rome next month before competing at the French Open.
