Emma Raducanu: British No 1 suffers lower back injury as she is beaten by Lin Zhu in opening round of Ningbo Open
A physically ailing Emma Raducanu suffers lower back injury in painful three-set defeat to Lin Zhu at the Ningbo Open; Watch the ATP and WTA Tours live on Sky Sports Tennis and Sky Sports+, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app
Tuesday 14 October 2025 14:34, UK
Emma Raducanu took two medical timeouts as she went down to a painful three-set defeat against Lin Zhu at the Ningbo Open on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old fell victim to the extreme Wuhan heat and was forced to retire from her first-round match against Ann Li last week.
She posted a picture on social media from a doctor's office and said she felt better but she faded after winning the opening set, taking a medical timeout on two separate occasions and had nothing left to give in the third set of her 3-6 6-4 6-1 defeat to world No 219 Zhu.
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It could now spell the end of Raducanu's season, despite the British No 1 scheduled to play at the Hong Kong Open, which starts on October 27 - live on Sky Sports Tennis.
In a first set which included five breaks of serve, Raducanu eventually stumbled across the line on her fifth set point after 55 minutes, despite appearing frustrated at how she was playing and dropping serve twice.
Raducanu was without her coach Francisco Roig, with the Spaniard taking a week off back at home in Barcelona and instead had hitting partner Alexis Canter courtside along with renowned German physio and fitness trainer Daniel Pohl.
Raducanu began to look lethargic early in the second set and called the doctor after seven games, where she had her blood pressure checked.
Zhu, who was ranked just outside the top 30 two years ago before injury saw her drop below 200, took advantage to send the contest into a deciding set.
The former US Open champion appeared uncomfortable and doubled over repeatedly in the deciding set before seeking medical attention once again after three games.
Raducanu opted not to retire again, despite being barely able to move, and the end came quickly as her resistance fell away.
This time last year, former No 31 Zhu was forced to miss the entire Chinese swing after an elbow injury sidelined her for six months.
"This year, I'm trying my best to perform," she told the crowd in her on-court interview.
The Brit has seen a resurgence in form, and she has been rewarded with a rise in the WTA Tour rankings - currently 29th - meaning Raducanu will be seeded at the Australian Open in January.
Marketa Vondrousova returned to action for the first time since a knee injury forced her to withdraw ahead of her US Open quarter-final against Aryna Sabalenka, but she was knocked out by fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-4 6-3.
Victoria Mboko was overpowered by Dayana Yastremska 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
The Ukrainian came from 5-2 down in the second set, meaning Mboko has now gone 0-4 since her shock title run in Montreal in August.
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