British No.1 Emma Raducanu has retired from her first match at the Wuhan Open after receiving a medical timeout during the second set.
The former US Open champion looked far from her best when taking on America’s Ann Li in the hot conditions. After falling behind 1-6, 1-4, Raducanu appeared dizzy on court before seeking a medical timeout to have her blood pressure and temperature taken. She then retired due to dizziness.
At the time of Raducanu’s match against Li, the humidity was at 60 per cent and the temperature was around 35 degrees. The hot weather has been in the spotlight this week, especially at the Shanghai Masters, which has seen a high number of retirements. On Tuesday, the ATP said they are open to making changes to its heat policy.
“First, I want to wish Emma a fast recovery, not sure but it looked like she wasn’t feeling good,” said Li.
“We had a tough match last time we played so I knew it was going to be tough but hopefully she feels better, but I’m happy with my performance, I was able to stay pretty solid the entire match.”
Karolina Muchova was another player to struggle with the conditions during her roller-coaster 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, win over Marta Kostyuk. Muchova, who is seeded 12th in the draw, is chasing after her first title since 2019 and will play Magdalena Frech next.
“It’s my first time in Wuhan, it’s so hot guys! Oh my god. I don’t remember the last time I played in this weather, honestly,” she said.
“Turning point? Honestly, I didn’t know if I will finish the match, I was just trying to take as much time in between the points as I could. Then I think Marta, in the second set, she gave me some free points and it suddenly turned around, and then we were both just fighting.”
Also through to the next round is four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who came back from a set down to beat Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Wuhan is the last WTA 1000 event of the season. Later this week, world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka will play her first match since winning the US Open. Her opening match will be against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova.
