Emma Raducanu retired from her first round clash, against Bianca Andreescu, in Rome with a bank injury.
Raducanu, who also struggled with a back injury during her previous tournament in Madrid and a hip injury earlier this year, was trailing 6-2 2-1 when she called it quits.
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“Definitely disappointed with how today went. But I guess I wanted to give it a try. I never really knew how bad it was until I kind of went out there,” Raducanu told reporters.
🇨🇦 @Bandreescu_ moves on to Round 2 after Raducanu retires.
Final score: 6-2, 2-1.#IBI22 pic.twitter.com/zwFiaJq0UG
— wta (@WTA) May 10, 2022
“I’m still learning when it’s right to push my body and push through it, and when it’s not. I guess that’s something I’m learning at these tournaments.
“After Madrid I thought that maybe taking one, two days off, it would just go away because a lot of the other small niggles I’ve had, they’ve kind of gone away after taking two days off.”
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The clash between two US Open champion on clay was much anticipated but Raducanu struggled from the outset.
Raducanu was clutching her back when she took a medical timeout after going 5-2 down but returned to the court minutes later where the Canadian held to love to take the opening set.
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The 19-year-old said she did not want to make a hasty decision to skip the French Open and focus on the grasscourt swing and her home Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
“Obviously I would not want to miss the French Open. The whole clay season leads up to it,” she said.
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“I think the last few weeks have been really positive. I’ve learnt a lot about myself and my game has definitely improved on this surface.”
Ons Jabeur, who became the first African player to win a WTA 1000 title in Madrid, survived a second set wobble to dispatch Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 7-6(1).