Emma Raducanu has made her return to tennis following a concerning health issue.
The 22-year-old, who has ascended one position to 29th in the latest WTA rankings, withdrew from the Wuhan Open due to illness during her first-round match against Ann Li. Raducanu had won their previous encounter at Eastbourne in June and began the match strongly by breaking her opponent’s serve.
However, this moment turned out to be the peak of the match for Britain’s top-ranked player. She subsequently lost six consecutive games, appearing completely exhausted.
After an equally lopsided second set, Raducanu ultimately lost to Li after taking a medical timeout while trailing 6-1 4-1. Dizziness was reported as the reason for her withdrawal. American Li commented: “I hope she feels better. I don’t know what happened, but you could tell towards the end she was maybe not moving as much.”
After Raducanu and her team opted not to speak to the media following the match, she later provided an update on her health. In a post on Threads, she shared a photo of herself sitting on a hospital bed.
She wrote: “Last day at the doctor’s in Wuhan… feeling better now, shame I couldn’t continue there but thank you for the messages [heart emoji].”
Nonetheless, fears that she might miss the Ningbo Open, a WTA 500 tournament, were alleviated when she took to the court against China’s Zhu Lin on Tuesday. Before the match, she posted an image of an empty gym, signaling that she was healthy and ready to return to competition.
Raducanu has faced a tough few weeks, having missed match points in losses to Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula at the Korea Open and China Open, respectively. Despite these challenges, the 2021 US Open champion has maintained a positive outlook on her overall development.
Earlier this month, she remarked: “Yes, I believe it was challenging for me. In the last two matches I lost, I had match points in both, which is not something that has frequently occurred to me before. To experience it twice within a week was quite novel and took some time for me to process.
“In the second match, I found it easier to move on compared to the first, as I felt I was playing better tennis and improving my level. I believe I didn’t spend too long dwelling on it and promptly returned to my training.
“I genuinely feel that I am making progress and improving. I still recognize the differences in where I aspire to be, but I am aware that I am putting in good work on a daily basis to reach that goal.”
Her involvement in Ningbo will undoubtedly be a positive development for the organizers, particularly after world No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, who was expected to be the top seed, withdrew due to a calf injury. Furthermore, Daria Kasatkina is not defending her title as she has opted to conclude her 2025 season early.
While Raducanu has been consistently ascending the world rankings, Aryna Sabalenka continues to assert her dominance, holding a substantial lead over Iga Swiatek, with Coco Gauff rounding out the top three. Pegula has advanced one position to fifth, while Mirra Andreeva has fallen to sixth.
