Raducanu Pulls Out of Wimbledon with Stress Fracture
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- Emma Raducanu withdrew from Wimbledon shortly after 22:00 BST on Sunday — about seven hours after telling journalists she planned to play — after a final scan confirmed a lower-right-leg niggle had developed into a stress fracture.
- Seeded 30th, Raducanu was due to open her campaign on Court One on Monday against Croatia's Antonia Ruzic.
- Fitness concerns had escalated all week: Raducanu was spotted in a protective boot on Wednesday, skipped training Thursday and Friday, cut short a practice set with Russia's Anna Kalinskaya, then tested her leg in two weekend sessions before opting out.
- Her late withdrawal ended a confident run that included a Queen's Club final earlier this month and fed hopes of repeating her fourth-round Wimbledon showings from 2021 and 2024.
- Since her 2021 US Open triumph, Raducanu has been repeatedly sidelined — bone bruising ended her 2025 season in October, and a viral illness limited her to six matches between early February and the start of Queen's.
- At the French Open last month, Raducanu admitted publicly that maintaining a positive mindset has become difficult given the volume of obstacles she has had to absorb.
Why it matters: At 23, with four of the five seasons since her 2021 US Open win eroded by injuries, Raducanu's latest withdrawal sharpens doubts over whether her body can sustain an elite schedule. Britain's number one exits her home Slam on the eve of the draw, and the seven-hour gap between her public assurance of fitness and the late-night scan result underscores how narrow the margin between competing and pulling out had become.
