Emma Raducanu withdraws from Guadalajara Open amid three-and-a-half-hour slog on WTA Tour
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Updated 23/02/2022 at 08:46 GMT
In her first match since the Australian Open, US Open champion Emma Raducanu had to retire from the final set of her tie with Daria Saville at the Guadalajara Open - which had already become the longest match of the WTA Tour season. Raducanu was 4-3 down in the decider when she called it a day, having played three hours and 36 minutes.
Emma Raducanu had to withdraw from the final set of her match with Daria Saville at the Guadalajara Open, a match which was already the longest of the WTA season
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Emma Raducanu was forced to quit during her first round clash with Daria Saville at the Guadalajara Open – a match that was already the longest of the WTA Tour season so far.
With three hours and 36 minutes on the clock, Britain’s US Open champion was trailing the Australian (formerly known by her maiden name, Gavrilova) 4-3 in the decider when she decided to call it a day.
Raducanu made a good start to her first match since the Australian Open, but it was a gruelling first set, which she eventually took 7-5 in one hour and 20 minutes. The turning point came late in the second, when the top seed served for the match at 5-3 before she was broken.
Gavrilova levelled by winning a tie-break 7-4 in another set which lasted 80 minutes, and the duration began to take its toll on both players in the decider.
Raducanu made a decent start to the final set, going a break up early on, before Saville levelled, despite struggling with cramp. Raducanu's free movement was declining and the world No. 12 called for an off-court medical time-out after going 3-2 down.
It was her final throw of her dice and after returning with strapping on her upper left leg, she lasted two more games before she admitted defeat and ended the match 4-3 down.
Raducanu had been looking to play herself into form ahead of the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open next month, by playing two tournaments in successive weeks in Mexico.
Although originally confirmed for next week’s Monterrey Open, she may now be a doubt given the apparent injury she picked up in her match with Saville.
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