Emma Raducanu was in tears after retiring with an injured ankle at the ASB Classic, less than two weeks before the Australian Open begins.
The Briton had breezed through the first set of the last-16 tie against Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova, winning 6-0 in just over 20 minutes.
Raducanu faced far more of a challenge in the second set, and received treatment on her left ankle near the end of it, before pulling out in tears at the start of the third set.
She had been broken at 2-2 and fell 4-2 behind in the second set, but broke back in the 10th game of the set to level things at 5-5. The Briton was broken again in the very next game, however, before going on to lose the second set 7-5.
During the match, Raducanu summoned the trainer courtside to heavily strap her left ankle in a long medical timeout.
She attempted to play on but was not able to complete the first game of the third set, acknowledging she could not continue.
Raducanu was marked as one of tennis’ hottest stars when she won the US Open in 2021. Her career since has been dogged by injuries. She retired from matches four times in 2022 and most recently has had to contend with a wrist injury.
Kuzmova will face Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic in the quarter-finals, after the latter defeated American Lauren Davis in three sets 4-6 6-3 6-2 to progress.
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Take a look back at Emma Raducanu’s incredible win at the 2021 US Open. The tournament will return to Sky Sports in 2023.
Elsewhere, Venus Williams blew a 5-3 last-set lead in a match which stretched over nearly seven hours because of rain in losing to Zhu Lin of China 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
The 42-year-old Williams fought through every moment of the second-round match which began after noon and ended near 7pm, which began outdoors and ended indoors, and which contained 13 service breaks before finally tipping in favour of Zhu in the last few games.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams, starting her 30th year on the WTA Tour, won her first tour match in nearly two years when she beat Katie Volynets on Monday in the first round of the Auckland tournament. She played only four matches in 2022 and was hoping to progress to the second round of a tournament for the first time since 2019.
Top-seeded American Coco Gauff will face Zhu in the quarterfinals after her 6-4, 6-4 win over compatriot Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
Seventh-ranked Gauff also had to play indoors and beat Kenin in just under 90 minutes, levelling their head-to-head record after Kenin beat Gauff en route to the Australian Open title.
Danka Kovinic, the seventh seed, beat former champion Lauren Davis 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and qualifier Rebeka Masarova beat Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-4.
