Emma Raducanu Withdraws from Korea Open Quarters Due to Foot Injury

Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her Korea Open quarter-final match against top seed Daria Kasatkina due to a foot injury, cutting short her pursuit of a second career title.

The 2021 US Open champion from Britain sought medical attention five games into the match but withdrew after losing the first set 6-1 in Seoul. This marks another setback for the 21-year-old, who had also received treatment on the same foot during her last-16 victory over China’s Yuan Yue earlier in the tournament.

Ranked 70th in the world, Raducanu has struggled with a series of injuries since her breakthrough US Open win, which has hampered her ability to build on that success.

She had been hoping to make an impact at the Korea Open, a tournament already affected by the last-minute withdrawals of top players, including world number one Iga Swiatek, US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula, and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

In her match against Kasatkina, currently ranked 13th in the world, Raducanu had her serve broken four times. She has yet to beat the Russian in their previous two encounters.

“I feel sorry for Emma having to retire,” said Kasatkina, who will face either Russian fourth seed Diana Shnaider or Ukrainian fifth seed Marta Kostyuk in the semi-finals. “It’s always unfortunate to get injured, especially in the later stages of a tournament. I wish her a speedy recovery and hope she’s ready for the next event.”

The tournament’s quarter-finals had been delayed by a day after rain washed out Friday’s play. In other matches, Brazil’s third seed Beatriz Haddad Maia advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Russia’s Polina Kudermetova. She will face Veronika Kudermetova, who defeated Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 7-5, 6-3.

The semi-finals were scheduled to take place later on Saturday.