Emma Raducanu was forced to pull out of Wimbledon. (Image: Getty)
Emma Raducanu will not play any part at Wimbledon after pulling out of contention on the eve of the 2026 Championships. The Briton was due to play Antonia Razic on Monday, June 29 in front of her home crowd with hopes of improving on her best performance – a fourth-round finish – in 2024 and 2021. But the 23-year-old announced that she would be withdrawing from the Grand Slam event less than 24 hours before the match.
Doubts had already surfaced about Raducanu’s fitness in the build-up to the two-week event at SW19. Raducanu made it to the final of Queen’s where she was beaten by Donna Vekic 6-0, 7-6 (6), but said afterwards she had suffered a niggle in her lower right leg. Raducanu did not train for four days earlier this week and was reportedly seen wearing a protective boot on her right leg. She returned to the courts for two training sessions on Saturday, but cut off a practice set with Anna Kalinskaya 10 minutes early while trailing 0-4.
Raducanu postponed her press conference to Sunday and practised again on the courts, with small signs of improvement before her press conference at 3.30pm. She underwent scans later in the evening, however, where results showed she had suffered a stress fracture in her leg – ruling her out of action for the foreseeable future and denying her the £80,000 first-round prize money.
The No. 30 seed announced her withdrawal at 10pm on Sunday, a matter of 15 hours before she was due on court to play unseeded Croatian opponent Ruzic. In a statement shared on her social media pages, Raducanu wrote: “Hi everyone, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but sadly I’ve had to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon.
“I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line tomorrow. But after a final scan tonight, the niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fracture and I’ve been medically advised to stop pushing through.
Emma Raducanu suffered a stress fracture in her right leg (Image: Getty)
“Playing at Wimbledon, in front of a home crowd, means everything to me, so this is really difficult to process. I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement. Especially at a time like this, it is invaluable. I look forward to seeing you when I’m back.”
In her press conference on Sunday, Raducanu explained why she felt she had been suffering from fitness issues: “I have a lower-leg niggle that I’ve been dealing with since before Queen’s, actually from the back end of the clay court season. I’ve been managing it,” she said before her final scans.
“I think it’s something that I’d say recently has probably, after Queen’s maybe, during that week, was a lot of load for me. Five matches after having not competed for a while, I think it was just a lot of load. But yeah, I’m just managing it with my team as best as I possibly can, exhausting all options and doing what we can.”
Emma Raducanu had been on the practice courts before Wimbledon (Image: Getty)
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Raducanu even featured on the official Wimbledon order of play as of Monday morning as of 9.30am, just hours before the action was due to get underway on No. 1 Court. However, this is likely to be updated later to reflect the fact that she had been replaced by a lucky loser from qualifying.
With Raducanu no longer in action, the schedule on No. 1 Court was changed early on Monday at short notice, leaving British fans potentially disappointed. Ruzic, ranked 61st in the world, will now play a lucky loser from the qualifying draw on Court No. 17, and her opponent will be subject to availability.
As a result, British No.5 Harriet Dart is now up first against Jelena Ostapenko. Dart, 29, who made it as far as the third round in 2024, is currently ranked 151st in the world.