Emma Raducanu Withdraws From Wimbledon With Stress Fracture

British tennis star Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to a stress fracture in her lower right leg, a devastating blow that came on the eve of the tournament and preceded a difficult opening day for the host nation's players. The 23-year-old, seeded 30th, announced her withdrawal on Sunday, June 28, after a final scan confirmed the injury.

Raducanu had been managing what she described as a "lower-leg niggle" since the clay-court season. Despite wearing a protective boot and curtailing practice sessions in the preceding days, she held out hope of competing, telling media on Sunday she was prepared to accept more risk to play at her home Grand Slam. However, medical advice following the scan was to stop pushing through the injury to avoid worsening it. She was scheduled to face Croatia's Antonia Ruzic on Court 1 on Monday.

In a statement, Raducanu said playing at Wimbledon in front of a home crowd meant everything to her and called the decision "really difficult to process." Under tournament rules, as a seeded player who withdrew after the order of play was published, she is entitled to half of the first-round prize money, amounting to £40,000.