Britain’s Emma Raducanu will miss Wimbledon after withdrawing on the eve of her home Grand Slam because a stress fracture in her lower right leg made it impossible to continue. The 23-year-old was due to begin her campaign on Monday against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic on Court One, but she pulled out late on Sunday after initially insisting she wanted to play.
Raducanu said: “I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line but after a final scan tonight the niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fractureI’ve been medically advised to stop pushing through.”
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“Playing at Wimbledon, in front of a home crowd, means everything to me, so this is really difficult to process,” she added.
The withdrawal ended several tense days in which fears grew over her fitness. She had been seen wearing a protective boot, missed training sessions, and then tested her leg in practice before cutting short a hit with Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya. By Sunday, she still hoped to play, but the scan confirmed the injury had worsened.
Raducanu’s Wimbledon pullout is another painful setback in a career marked by repeated injury issues since her breakthrough at the 2021 US Open. She reached the Queen’s final earlier this month, which briefly lifted optimism around her form, but the latest problem has again stalled her momentum just as the grass-court season reached its biggest stage.
Born in Toronto in 2002, Raducanu moved to the UK as a two-year-old and grew up in Bromley, south-east London. She became a British citizen and rose from teenage prodigy to global star when she won the US Open in 2021, becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977.
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Her background has often drawn attention because of her mixed heritage. Raducanu’s father, Ian, is Romanian and her mother, Renee, is Chinese; she has spoken about how both sides of her family shaped her discipline and resilience. She has also previously spoken about feeling proud of her Chinese and Romanian roots, and about visiting family in both countries.
The result is a player whose story has always carried more than sporting significance. At Wimbledon, she has been one of Britain’s biggest hopes, but this year the tournament will go on without her.
