'Difficult to take': Teary star's sad admission

Emma Raducanu blamed slippery New Zealand indoor courts for an ankle wounded which forced her to retreat from the ASB Classic successful Auckland connected Thursday, little than 2 weeks earlier the commencement of the Australian Open.

The 2021 US Open champion was successful tears aft retiring successful the 3rd acceptable of her 2nd circular lucifer against Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kusmova.

The British subordinate slipped precocious successful the 2nd acceptable and past summoned the trainer who heavy strapped her near ankle during a lengthy wounded break.

The 20-year-old Radacanu attempted to proceed and was serving successful the archetypal crippled of the 3rd acceptable erstwhile she tearfully indicated she could not play on.

Matches astatine the WTA Tour lawsuit were moved indoors for the 2nd consecutive time due to the fact that of dense rain.

"It's hard to take," Raducanu said.

"I've enactment a batch of carnal enactment successful the past fewer months and I've been feeling bully and optimistic. So to beryllium stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle, is beauteous disappointing.

"In the archetypal week arsenic well, I thought I was playing immoderate beauteous decent tennis. The courts were incredibly slick, similar precise slippery. So to beryllium honorable it's not a astonishment that this happens to someone. It's retired of my power and aft a precise agelong time of waiting around."

Raducanu was marked arsenic 1 of tennis' up-and-coming stars erstwhile she won astatine Flushing Meadows, but her vocation since has been dogged by injuries.

She retired from matches 4 times successful 2022 and astir precocious has had to contend with a wrist injury.

Venus Williams besides questioned the determination to commencement her lucifer against Zhu Lin outdoors erstwhile rainfall was imminent.

Williams mislaid 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 successful a lucifer which yet moved indoors and stretched implicit astir 7 hours due to the fact that of rain.

"Being the archetypal lucifer is similar being a guinea pig," Williams said.

"It was not great. I've played a batch of matches successful my beingness and I've played done immoderate aggravated delays but it was decidedly similar 2 abstracted matches.

"Outside, it was truly tough. It was rainy, windy. It was tennis but it was much astir surviving alternatively of playing great. Indoors, it was wholly antithetic but I got to deed a batch of balls truthful that's important."