Emma Raducanu has suffered an injury scare ahead of the Australian Open after rolling her ankle and retiring from her second-round match at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Thursday.
The 2021 US Open champion took only 22 minutes to sweep the first set 6-0 against Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kusmova but faltered and lost the second set 7-5.
Raducanu summoned the trainer courtside to heavily strap her left ankle in a long injury break.
The 20-year-old Raducanu attempted to play on but was not able to complete the first point of the third set.
She was tearful when she came to the net and acknowledged she could not continue.
Raducanu was marked as one of tennis’ hottest stars when she won at Flushing Meadows but her career since has been dogged by injuries.
She retired from matches four times in 2022 and most recently has had to contend with a wrist injury.
Earlier, Coco Gauff beat fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter-final match against China’s Zhu Lin, who outlasted Venus Williams 3-6 6-2 7-5 in a rain-hit match that ran two hours and 23 minutes.
Williams, 42, served for the match at 5-4 in the final set but Zhu broke and then fended off four break points before closing out the victory.
