Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her opening match at the Wuhan Open on another bruisingly hot day. The world No. 30 got off to a good start when she broke her opponent, Ann Li, in the opening game. But Li stormed back to win six in a row, and Raducanu eventually called it quits with the American leading 6-1 4-1.
The Brit looked out of sorts throughout the match and called the doctor during the second set and had her vitals checked, ultimately deciding to retire.
The British No. 1, who came through a six-minute opening game, but struggled on what was another bruisingly hot day in Wuhan, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees, and humidity going above 60 per cent.
Li immediately got the break back and continued rolling through, dominating in the 28-minute opening set. There were too many mistakes from Raducanu, who also hit just three winners to Li’s 13.
The American continued to pile on the pressure, and the world No. 30 was made to work for her first service hold. Raducanu survived a gruelling 10-minute game to start the second set, hitting four double faults but still getting on the board.
The Brit finally had another look at a couple of break points as Li’s first serve percentage just started to drop. But Li shut the door, saving both with winners, and held on.
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