The tennis world has reacted with a mix of emotions after Emma Raducanu suffered more injury woes at the Italian Open on Tuesday and retired against Bianca Andreescu.
The most intriguing women’s match on the card in Rome on Tuesday ended prematurely when the British phenom was forced to retire with a back injury while trailing 6-2 2-1.
The match between US Open champions lived up to its billing early but came undone when Raducanu was clearly hampered by the injury.
The 19-year-old, who has been dogged by a series of different injuries this season, told a physio during a medical timeout “I can’t move” before quitting.
A one-sided first set saw Raducanu have no answer to Andreescu’s power, while struggling to make her own serve count.
Raducanu spent some time off the court for treatment and she was clearly uncomfortable when play got back under way.
Speaking in her post-match press conference she said: “I thought that maybe taking one, two days off, it would just go away because a lot of the other small niggles I’ve had, they’ve kind of gone away after taking, like, two days off.
“Then I got here and I was training, but it just didn’t seem to get better. I need to make sure my back is fully right, however long that takes.
“I learned my lesson from this week: when to push, when not to push.
“It obviously sucks because I just feel like a lot of the matches, looking back, I’m either playing with this or that.
