WUHAN:Emma Raducanu had her blood pressure and other vitals checked before retiring from her Wuhan Open first-round match with dizziness when down 6-1, 4-1 to American Ann Li on Tuesday.
The British world number 30 appeared to be struggling with the conditions as temperatures soared to 30 C, forcing tournament organizers to apply the heat rule in the first two days of competition.
Raducanu broke in the opening game of the match but immediately lost her advantage and would not win another game in a 28-minute first set.
The 2021 US Open champion received medical attention five games into the second set.
She made the call to retire, sending Li into a second-round meeting with ninth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The heat rule allows players to take a 10-minute break between the second and third sets, and means the tournament can partially or fully close the roof to protect players from the heat.
In the Raducanu-Li match the roof was partially closed.
Earlier, four-time major champion Naomi Osaka claimed her first-ever victory at the Wuhan Open with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.
In a tense two-hour 30-minute affair, the 11th-seeded Osaka fired 41 winners and 56 unforced errors.
Osaka, who is playing in Wuhan for the first time since 2017, awaits in-form Linda Noskova or Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in the second round.
“Mentally it was just really tough for me today,” said Osaka. “And I think it’s a part of the season that’s just tough. But I think I’m, like, really happy to have gotten through it, and I think it’ll be easier from now on.”
Raducanu retires from opening match in Wuhan heat with dizziness
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Raducanu retires from opening match in Wuhan heat with dizziness
- Emma Raducanu had her blood pressure and other vitals checked before retiring from her Wuhan Open first-round match with dizziness when down 6-1, 4-1 to American Ann Li on Tuesday
Sabalenka says Kyrgios match will not harm women’s tennis reputation
- Sabalenka will play the Australian, ranked 672 in the world, on December 28
- “I am not putting myself at any risk,” the 27-year-old Belarusian told the BBC
LONDON: World number one Aryna Sabalenka says she is not concerned that losing to Nick Kyrgios in this month’s ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition could damage the reputation of women’s tennis.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka will play the Australian, ranked 672 in the world, on December 28.
“I am not putting myself at any risk,” the 27-year-old Belarusian told the BBC. “We’re there to have fun and bring great tennis. Whoever wins, wins.
“It’s so obvious that the man is biologically stronger than the woman, but it’s not about that. This event is only going to help bring women’s tennis to a higher level.”
Some have criticized the event which has echoes of the original 1973 Battle of the Sexes match in which women’s trailblazer Billie Jean King was challenged by 55-year-old former Grand Slam winner Bobby Riggs who claimed women’s tennis was far inferior to men’s.
King won the match in Houston with the contest attracting a reported 90 million television viewers.
Unlike Riggs, Kyrgios is still an active Tour player although he played only five professional matches in 2025 because of the injuries that have dogged his career.
“It’s not going to be an easy match for Nick,” Sabalenka said. “I’m going to be there competing and showing women are strong, powerful and good entertainment.
“He’s in a lose-lose situation. I’m in a win-win situation.”
Kyrgios, the former world number 13, said in September that women can’t return men’s serves and that he would beat Sabalenka without having to try 100 percent.
However, he said the match would increase respect between the men’s and women’s Tours.
“So I can’t do anything other than hope me and Aryna play our best tennis and, at the end of the day, whoever wins, that our handshake afterwards solidifies the union between males and females in the tennis world,” he said.
