Raducanu retires after struggling with her breathing against Tomljanovic
British teenager Emma Raducanu struggled with her breathing and was forced to retire from her fourth-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic at Wimbledon
The teenage sensation has quickly become the story of the Championships, having only played one WTA Tour level match before this tournament.
But she was noticeably struggling to breathe having lost the opening set and, after consulting with the trainer and doctor, she took a medical timeout where it was deemed she could not continue.
“I am actually shocked because Emma must be hurt if she came to the decision to retire,” Tomljanovic said on court. “I am really sorry for her, I wish we could have finished it. I am wishing her all the best.
“I thought I found my groove although Emma was hurt and not at her best which kind of explains it.”
Due to medical reasons, Emma Raducanu has retired from this match – but what an incredible run to the fourth round it was.
Two months ago Raducanu was sitting her A-Level exams and until a month ago she had not even contested a match on the main WTA Tour. In a whirlwind few days, 18-year-old Raducanu dumped out Vitalia Diatchenko, 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova and 45th-ranked Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
Raducanu, who is ranked 338 in the world, was cheered on by a boisterous crowd under the roof of Court One and she made a composed start to the match.
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Your performances have inspired so many over the last few days.
We wish you a speedy recovery. This is just the start.
Tomljanovic was also on unfamiliar territory having reached the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time.
The 28-year-old, who reached a career-high No 39 in 2019, survived a break point in the seventh game before extracting herself from an eight-minute service game for a 5-4 lead.
The Kent teenager then absorbed an onslaught from Tomljanovic, before she fired long on set point to hand the Australian an early advantage.