Emma Raducanu withdraws from Wimbledon with right leg injury

ALL ENGLAND CLUB, London — Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from Wimbledon with a stress fracture in her lower leg.

The highest-ranked British player in the women’s draw, Raducanu was seeded No. 30 and had been scheduled to play Croatia’s Antonia Ružić Monday. She said in a news conference Sunday afternoon that her plan was still to play the event despite what she called a “lower leg niggle”.

After missing practice earlier in the week and then cutting a session short on Saturday, however, Raducanu wrote on Instagram Sunday night that: “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but sadly I’ve had to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon.

“I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line tomorrow but after a final scan tonight, the niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fracture and I’ve been medically advised to stop pushing through.

“Playing at Wimbledon, in front of a home crowd, means everything to me, so this is really difficult to process.”

The injury adds to a difficult 2026 for Raducanu, who was managing a foot injury at the start of the year, and then had a post-viral illness from February until May.

She recovered in time for the French Open, but in an emotional news conference after losing to Solana Sierra in the first round, she said that all the injury setbacks she had endured since winning the U.S. Open as an 18-year-old in 2021 had been “very difficult.” She added, while fighting back tears, that: “I think you need a lot of resilience. I think I’m trying my best each day, and I think that’s all I can ask of myself.”

She was upbeat in Sunday’s news conference, but said that: “I’ve had a tough start to the season, a lot of time out. I think hearing and feeling this is difficult. I have great people around me. I think that’s one thing that’s really been helping in this latest setback. I think having their support, they’re really in it with me. It means a lot to have that.”

Raducanu, an accomplished grass-court player, then reached the final of Queen’s — the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up event — earlier this month. It was only her second final since that U.S. Open win, and both of those have come this year, but she ultimately ran out of gas and lost in straight sets to 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekić.

“I have just been dealing with a few niggles over the past few weeks,” Raducanu said in a news conference afterwards. “And of course the load I have had in the last week — it’s been a great problem to have, playing this many matches.”

After that encouraging run at Queen’s, there was optimism that Raducanu could kick on and have another run at her home Slam, where she has twice reached the fourth round. Her tennis has looked more fluent than it has done in months since she reunited with Andrew Richardson, who coached her to the U.S. Open title.

But over the past couple of weeks, Raducanu pulled out of the Nottingham Open and then the Eastbourne Open. She hoped to be ready for Wimbledon, but on Sunday had to accept defeat.

Raducanu’s place in the draw, and slot against Ružič, will go to a lucky loser from qualifying.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Tennis, Women’s Tennis

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