Emma Raducanu withdraws from Italian Open due to illness
Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Italian Open in another setback for the British number one, pulling out due to a post-viral illness, reports BritPanorama.
Raducanu was scheduled to face Solana Sierra or a qualifier in the second round, marking her first tournament appearance since March. The British player has not competed since her defeat at Indian Wells, where she was sidelined due to illness and a right-hand injury.
Despite training in Rome and fulfilling her media commitments, Raducanu ultimately decided with her team to withdraw from the competition. Last week, she trained in Spain with former coach Andrew Richardson, who aided her in achieving the US Open title almost five years ago.
If she had progressed, Raducanu could have potentially met Coco Gauff in the third round. In the same section of the draw, Aryna Sabalenka also awaited her potential opponents. In 2024, Raducanu made her best performance at this event, reaching the fourth round before being defeated by Gauff.
Raducanu has spent recent days training under the guidance of childhood coach Jane O’Donoghue. She missed the opportunity to compete in Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Australia and was last seen in competitive action on March 8, when she lost to Amanda Anisimova in the third round of Indian Wells.
Raducanu acknowledged a lack of power in her previous match, stating, “I need to obviously be aggressive when playing those players, but I think there’s still a long way to go to be doing that, and I need to use my strengths and probably mix it up a bit more.”
With Katie Boulter slated to compete against Eva Lys tomorrow at the Italian Open, the women’s tournament is poised to continue as planned, despite Raducanu’s withdrawal.
Raducanu’s hopes for a strong clay-court season have been dampened, but her recent performances suggest that her return to form might be on the horizon as she refocuses her efforts.
