Emma Raducanu forced to pull out of Italian Open with back injury as Brit suffers yet more problems on-court
EMMA RADUCANU’S problems have continued after she was forced to retire injured from her Italian Open clash against Bianca Andreescu.
The 19-year-old was heard telling the umpire she “couldn’t move” before calling time on the clash just over an hour in.
The Brit had lost the first set 6-2, and was 2-1 down in the second before calling it quits due to a back injury.
Raducanu had struggled with problems in that area of her body during the previous tournament in Madrid.
The battle of the reigning and former US Open champions on clay looked an intriguing prospect.
But Raducanu struggled from the outset and served poorly, handing Andreescu a number of break points.
Raducanu was clutching her back when she took a medical timeout after going 5-2 down.
But she returned to the court minutes later where the Canadian held to love to take the opening set.
Teen Raducanu held serve at the start of the second set but looked uncomfortable yet again.
And this time she took the decision to retire when she was down 2-1 in the second.
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It will not be the prep for French Open at Roland Garros that the 21-year-old BBC Sports Personality of the Year was looking for.
In Madrid the world No11 was overpowered 6-2 2-6 6-4 by hard-hitting Anhelina Kalinina as she missed the chance to win three matches in a row for the first time since New York last year.
The Brit was seen clutching her lower back at times during the tiring last-16 match but she commendably played on through the pain barrier over the course of more than two hours.
The US Open champion is searching for a fourth coach in 10 months after surprisingly splitting with German Torben Beltz last week.
