Emma Raducanu criticized the “slippery” courts at the ASB Classic in Auckland after withdrawing from her second round match with an ankle injury.
The Brit walked off the court in tears after spraining her ankle during the second set against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia, with the score 6-0 5-7.
There are only 11 days left until the Australian Open begins in Melbourne.
“The courts are incredibly slippery, so to be honest, it’s not a surprise that this happened to someone,” Raducanu said.
The British number one, who did not lose a game in the first set, he told the New Zealand website Stuff: “It’s hard to take. I’ve put in a lot of physical work in the last few months and I’ve been feeling good and optimistic.
“So to be stopped for a freak injury, rolling an ankle, it’s pretty disappointing.”
The match was played indoors due to persistent rain in Auckland.
Raducanu, who said he would assess the injury in the coming days, tried to play on after receiving medical attention, but dropped two points in his first service game early in the third set.
The 2021 US Open champion had an injury-plagued 2022 season and withdrew from five matches, but said she was no injuries and feeling “fine” after an exhibition game in December.
Started 2023 with victory over teenager Linda Fruhvirtova in his first match in New Zealand in preparation for the first major of the season.
Elsewhere, Coco Gauff defeated fellow American and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-4 to reach the Auckland quarterfinals.
The 18-year-old number one seed will next play China’s Zhu Lin, who defeated seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a rain-interrupted match. who had to be moved to an indoor court.
Zhu won the last four games of the match when he came back from 5-3 in the deciding set. Williams served for the match at 5-4, but the Chinese World No.84 broke and saved four break points as she held serve to advance 6-5 before breaking serve again.
“It was really tough outside, it rained, it was windy. It was tennis, but it was more about surviving than playing well,” said Williams, who was awarded a wild card entry to the Australian Open.
“Inside it was completely different, but I was able to hit a lot of balls, so that’s important.”
At the Adelaide International, 18-year-old Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic set up a quarterfinal with two-time Australian Open winner of Belarus, Victoria Azarenka, 33. Noskova beat American Claire Liu 6-2 , 6-2, while Azarenka beat Chinese Zheng Qinwen 6-2 7-5.
Tunisian world number two Ons Jabeur also reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 win over Romanian Sorana Cirstea, while 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, was defeated 6-3, 6-0 by Romanian Irina-Camelia. Begu.
