Emma Raducanu has been forced to miss the upcoming US Open, as the British number one continues to recover from a stress fracture which also ruled her out of Wimbledon
17:12, 17 Aug 2026Updated 18:15, 17 Aug 2026
Emma Raducanu’s career has been blighted by injuries(Image: Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Emma Raducanu has been tipped to announce her shock retirement aged 23. Ex-BBC star Andrew Castle has suggested that Raducanu may’ve finally ‘had enough’ of her constant injury setbacks.
The British number one recently pulled out of this year’s US Open, which starts next week, due to a stress fracture in her right leg. Raducanu suffered her latest injury during the grass-court season, forcing her to miss Wimbledon .
Castle, who quit his role with the BBC earlier this year, wants to see Raducanu continue but wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to call time on her career. The former tennis player told Betway: “Well, put it this way. I mean, I’ve got no access to that camp whatsoever, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one day, out of the blue, she just said, you know, ‘I’ve had enough of all this’.
“I mean, don’t we all say that? She doesn’t have an obligation to anybody but herself and her family. That’s it. There is nothing else. All the sponsors and everybody else, they’re not the ones whose career this is.
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“It’s her choice, but I mean, I hope she carries on. I would love to see her have three or four years of freedom away from injury, and just to play tennis.
“I mean, it would have been great if, right at the beginning, she could have literally just picked up a racket and just gone and played a few Challengers, or whatever you want.”
The decision for Raducanu to miss the US Open, which she famously won in 2021 at the age of 18, was made after consultation with her medical team. The 23-year-old recently stepped up her recovery but has been wearing a protective boot on court.
Having enjoyed a resurgence in 2025, her pre-season this year was derailed by a foot injury. Raducanu then spent two-and-a-half months on the sidelines with a post-viral illness.
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Andrew Castle doesn’t want to see Emma Raducanu retire(Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
In May, she rehired coach Andrew Richardson, who oversaw her memorable victory at Flushing Meadows five years ago. Asked if she’d made a mistake by parting ways with Richardson, Raducanu replied: “Everything in my life changed upside down.
“I didn’t really think I had a handle over the situation in the sense that I was being pulled left and right. I didn’t really know what was going on. A lot of experiences over the last few years have taught me about what I didn’t want. It taught me that I really value having people I trust and connect with around me. It’s really nice to have that feeling back.”
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