Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Miami Open on the eve of the joint ATP and WTA 1000 tournament due to a lower back injury.
Raducanu had hoped to build on her positive performances at Indian Wells over the last two weeks and she had been handed a fair draw, with a first-round meeting against Wang Xiyu of China and the winner facing Anna Kalinskaya, the 22nd seed, in the second round.
At Indian Wells, Raducanu won two matches at a tournament for the first time since her return to the tour at the beginning of the year. Raducanu then lost 6-3, 7-5 to Aryna Sabalenka, showing her fight and shotmaking abilities in two tight, quality sets.
Instead of continuing to build momentum and gaining points to rise back up the rankings following her eight-month layoff due to surgeries on both hands and an ankle, Raducanu has suffered yet another disappointing setback.
According to a member of Raducanu’s camp, the injury is not serious but she has been feeling pain in her back and did not want to risk worsening it. It remains to be seen if Raducanu will be fit for the Billie Jean King Cup tie against France next month, which is her next scheduled competition.
Last week, she was announced as part of Britain’s team alongside Katie Boulter, Heather Watson and Harriet Dart for the qualifying tie in Le Portel. The tie starts on 12 April, meaning Raducanu has three and a half weeks to recover and prepare for the start of another clay court season.
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In the men’s draw, Andy Murray faces a tough opening-round match against the former top 10 player Matteo Berrettini. A finalist at Wimbledon in 2021, Berrettini is on the comeback trail after an injury-ravaged 18 months and he has fallen out of the top 100. The Italian played his first tournament in seven months last week, reaching the final of the Phoenix challenger before losing to No 60 Nuno Borges of Portugal. Last year, Murray recovered from match-point down to defeat Berrettini after five sets in the opening round of the Australian Open.
