Emma Raducanu retires from Wuhan Open match after blood pressure check in stifling conditions

admin-cdn8 October، 2025

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Emma Raducanu retires from Wuhan Open match after blood pressure check in stifling conditions

Emma Raducanu struggled with the heat and humidity throughout her match. Wuhan Open / VCG via Getty Images

Emma Raducanu retired from her Wuhan Open first-round match against America’s Ann Li Tuesday, after having her blood pressure checked in the second set.

Raducanu was out of sorts throughout the match, and retired after taking a medical time out down 6-1, 4-1. Raducanu and Li played in temperatures of 89.6 degrees (32C) in China, with humidity near 70 percent. The previous day, Raducanu shared a picture of a weather app on social media, showing that the temperature outside felt like 98.6 degrees.

A representative for Raducanu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether anything besides the conditions had contributed to Raducanu’s feeling unwell.

On the opening day of the tournament, organizers suspended play because of extreme heat, stopping matches on outside courts and closing the roof on the main show court. For Raducanu’s match against Li, the roof on the show court was partially closed to provide shade.

These measures are available alongside an “extreme heat rule,” versions of which are in place at tournaments around the globe. The WTA Heat Rule states that when the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), which measures air temperature, humidity, and the impact of sunlight and wind, exceeds 86.1 degrees, players can take a 10-minute heat break at the end of the second set. Either player can request the rule be used.

Heat and humidity have also affected the Shanghai Masters, which is running alongside the Wuhan Open. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner retired in the third set of his match against Tallon Griekspoor after extreme cramps in his right leg left him barely able to walk. Taylor Fritz and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard were both badly struggling with their movement in the closing stages of their third-round match Sunday, while Novak Djokovic vomited during his win over Yannick Hanfmann and described the conditions as “brutal.”

Raducanu is entered to play the WTA 500 event in Ningbo, China, next week, but could decide to end her season before then. She is ranked No. 30, which would see her seeded for January’s Australian Open.

Oct 7, 2025