Emma Raducanu banks huge payday despite pulling out of Wimbledon | Tennis | Sport

Emma Raducanu will not play at Wimbledon this year after withdrawing 15 hours before her first-round match. The British No.1 was set to play in the first match on Court 1 at 1pm on Monday against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic. But she dropped the unfortunate bombshell on Sunday evening that she has suffered a stress fracture in her lower right leg. Scans on Sunday confirmed the bad news after Raducanu had promised to do everything to be on court for her first-round clash with Ruzic.

But despite pulling out, Wimbledon‘s rules mean the 2021 US Open champion will still earn 50 per cent of the prize money she would have received for playing. Players competing in the first round are awarded £80,000 even if they lose, and so 30th seed Raducanu will go home with £40,000 despite her withdrawal and her upcoming lay-off. In a statement, Raducanu wrote on Instagram: “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.

“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.”

Earlier on Sunday, Raducanu had told journalists that she would do everything she could to play at the All England Club.

The 23-year-old said in a press conference: “Yeah, 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.

“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.

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“But yeah, I’m just managing it with my team as best as I possibly can, exhausting all options and doing what we can.I think everyone knows I took a few days off, I didn’t practice.

“The first session [yesterday] I was just a little bit tentative, I’d say, hesitant. Today I did feel better on the court, so that’s a positive sign. I’ve been doing everything I can, managing, treatment, just to try to be as fit as possible.”

Raducanu added: “I think risk is always a factor. I think a lot of players are probably managing things. I think there are certain tournaments you’re willing to do more for, put yourself on the line more for, risk more for.

“For me, of course, Wimbledon is that. I think I probably pushed beyond anything that I would for any other tournament. That’s for a fact. It’s just to what extent.”

Sadly, this is the latest injury issue that has disrupted Raducanu’s career. She was seen wearing a protective boot on Wednesday before missing practice on Thursday and Friday.

Though she returned to court on Saturday, with a gentler session with her team, she ended up cutting a second session with Anna Kalinskaya short by 10 minutes.

Raducanu also cancelled her press conference and rescheduled it for today (Sunday), with the intention of giving herself every chance to be fit.

Despite positive signs in her Sunday morning session at SW19, Raducanu has confirmed she is not fit to play at the grass-court Grand Slam this year.

It is gutting for both her and the tournament, with now only 20 British players competing across the men’s and women’s draws and only one of them seeded – 26th seed Cameron Norrie.

Raducanu had reached the final at Queen’s earlier this month and was hoping to get past the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.