British No. 1 pulls out hours after saying she would play, citing stress fracture in lower right leg discovered on final scan.
6:45 PM
Britain's Emma Raducanu withdrew from Wimbledon on Sunday night, abandoning her home Grand Slam tournament after a stress fracture was discovered in her lower right leg.
The 23-year-old announced the decision shortly after 22:00 BST, approximately seven hours after telling journalists at a news conference that she planned to compete. Raducanu, seeded 30th, was scheduled to face Croatia's Antonia Ružić on Monday on Court One at 13:00 BST.
"I've done everything possible to try to get to the start line but after a final scan tonight the niggle I've been managing has developed into a stress fracture," Raducanu said in a statement posted on Instagram. "I've been medically advised to stop pushing through."
Concerns about Raducanu's fitness had mounted throughout the week leading up to the tournament. She was spotted wearing a protective boot on Wednesday after missing training that day. She did not train on Thursday or Friday due to what was believed to be a shin problem. On Saturday, she returned to the court to test her fitness, cutting short a practice set against Russian Anna Kalinskaya with approximately 10 minutes remaining and wearing strapping around her lower right leg.
Despite these setbacks, Raducanu held a news conference on Sunday afternoon where she stated her intention to play. "I'm going to do everything with my team in terms of treatment," she said at the time, declining to estimate her chances of competing. "The plan right now is to play."
After an hour-long practice session at the All England Club on Sunday afternoon, Raducanu made the decision to attempt to compete. However, a final medical scan conducted that evening revealed the stress fracture, prompting the withdrawal.
The 2021 US Open champion had been managing the injury since her run to the Queen's Club final earlier in June, where she finished as runner-up to Donna Vekic after five matches in a week. Following that tournament, she had worn strapping on her left thigh after a slip in the quarter-finals, but the primary concern this week centered on her right leg.
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