Emma Raducanu forced to retire at Wuhan Open amid ‘overwhelming’ tennis schedule

Emma Raducanu has been forced to retire from her first-round match at the Wuhan Open against Ann Li due to illness, amid ongoing debate around tennis’s packed schedule.

Raducanu had won the pair's only previous encounter on the Eastbourne grass in June and she began with a break of serve in Central China, but that was as good as it got for the British No 1.

She lost the next six games in a row, appearing devoid of energy, and after a similarly uncompetitive second set, Raducanu shook hands with Li following a medical timeout when trailing 6-1, 4-1.

The relentless schedule of events has come in for plenty of criticism recently, with women’s world No 2 Iga Swiatek admitting she finds the calendar overwhelming in an interview last month.

“I think we play too much, and the schedule is crazy,” said Swiatek. “I try to divide the year into each part of the season and focus on what’s coming up, otherwise, it’s difficult.

“After a four-week preseason and eight-day vacation, if I look at the end of December and see what awaits me over the next 11 months, it’s overwhelming. It’s best to take it step by step because the schedule is demanding and difficult.”

World No 19 Daria Kasatkina recently became the latest player to end her season early, joining the likes of Elina Svitolina and Beatriz Haddad Maia. “The truth is, I've hit a wall and can't continue,” the Russian-born Kasatkina, who now represents Australia, wrote on Instagram. “The schedule is too much, mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point and sadly, I am not alone.”

Meanwhile, concurrent to the Wuhan Open, the men’s tour is playing the Shanghai Masters in brutal conditions where extreme heat and humidity have taken a wrecking ball to the top seeds.

Jannik Sinner is out after retiring from his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor due to painful cramp and that was the seventh retirement of the week in Shanghai, while Novak Djokovic only battled through after throwing up on court during his gruelling win over Yannick Hanfmann on Sunday.

Raducanu’s retirement from the match against Li due to illness may or may not be related to fatigue but it is the latest blow in a tough few weeks for the world No 30 who spurned match points against both Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula to lose in the Korea Open and China Open respectively.

The 2021 US Open champion made a bright start in Wuhan after breaking her American opponent in the opening game but Li hit straight back, held to love and then broke Raducanu again after a couple of errors from the 22-year-old, who was already showing signs of feeling unwell, failing to chase down manageable returns.

She soldiered on to no avail, with a wild backhand wide handing Li the first set after 28 minutes, although Raducanu held serve to start the second set despite making four double faults.

The Brit had two break points but her unforced errors were piling up – there were 29 in total with just nine winners – and Li was able to hold before breaking twice more to establish a 4-1 lead.

With just over an hour on the clock, Raducanu called for the doctor and had her temperature and blood pressure taken before ruefully shaking her head, clearly out-of-sorts, as she pulled the plug on the contest.

Additional reporting by PA