Emma Raducanu seemingly isn't ready to return to action after sustaining a foot injury as the British tennis star has withdrawn from the qualifying of the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan.
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For the 21-year-old, this is a very important part of the year and she underlined that when the Asian swing started three weeks ago. And when she kicked it off early in Seoul, it was clear that she was seriously thinking about playing a lot in the final part of the year.
But after winning her first two matches at the Korea Open, Raducanu's Seoul run came to an end in a crushing way after she was forced to retire mid-match to Daria Kasatkina due to what looked like a foot issue. Later, the former world No. 10 shared that she injured her ligaments and also announced that she was pulling out of the ongoing China Open in Beijing.
"Hello, last week in Seoul I sprained some ligaments in my foot which unfortunately need some more time to heal (sad emoji). It means I cant play in Beijing but I hope to be back competing as soon as I can," she announced on September 23rd.
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Late this week, the Wuhan qualifying is slated to start. But on the tournament's released list, there was no Raducanu - which very likely means that she will be out of action for at least another two weeks.
Did Raducanu simply avoid playing qualifying in Wuhan?
Throughout this year, there was a lot of talk about whether the 2021 US Open champion was deliberately skipping tournaments for which she didn't get main draw wildcards. After she pulled out of the qualifying events at the Rome Open, the French Open, Toronto and Cincinnati, the Briton heard criticism and faced scrutiny.
However, when directly asked about it during a recent interview, Raducanu insisted that it absolutely wasn't true.
"I think playing qualies is not something that I am against, because if you get through those two rounds you feel you're adjusted to the court. If you're playing a seed, you have a better eye for the ball, a better feel - it's not that I am against it at all," the 21-year-old recently told BBC Sport.
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Raducanu's plans for the Asian swing have already been ruined...
After skipping the Paris Olympics and appearing in just two tournaments during the North American hard-court swing, the current world No. 54 was fresher than the majority of her competition. And her plan was to focus on the Asian swing - play a lot - and try to do well and finish her season on a very high note.
"I always knew there was a really long block in Asia at the end of the year and I didn't want to overdo myself in the first half of the year. If you look at the tournaments I played it was relatively light. I skipped quite a few weeks over the clay knowing that I'm at the stage where I'm not trying to win every event on the clay, on the grass and hard," Raducanu told WTA Insider two weeks ago.
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"I have to prioritize and Asia was one of those for me. So I stacked the year on the backend heavy, because I'm excited. I thrive in Asia. It's where I truly feel like home. So I'm buzzing for that trip even though it's at the end of the year. I'm looking forward to going out there and trying to take it."
When laying out her plans, the 21-year-old highlighted that she needed to stay healthy because otherwise she would not be able to execute her hopes.
"I think the rest of the year, as long as I'm healthy I'm going to try and finish the season and play as many matches as I can. It's something I'm really light on since the grass through the D.C. period. I've not played many points, even in practice. So today, as grueling as it was, I think I had three hours of match experience, which can only aid me going into the next few weeks. For me now, I just want to play matches and, in the meantime, do a little bit of work on my game where I can," she said in Seoul.
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Now, it is safe to say that Raducanu's plans for this part of the season have been severely hampered. Saying ruined probably isn't too harsh a statement either.
On October 28th, the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong is taking place. Already in September, the former world No. 10 confirmed her participation there.
It remains to be seen if Raducanu will at least be able to return to action later this month.
