Emma Raducanu has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after a scan conducted Sunday evening confirmed that a lower leg injury she had been managing for weeks had developed into a stress fracture, ending her participation in the tournament before her first-round match could take place Monday.
The British number one had addressed the media at the All England Club on Sunday afternoon and stated her intention to compete, revealing she had been dealing with the problem since the back end of the clay-court season and through her run to the final at Queen’s Club two weeks ago. The situation changed late that same evening when medical advice following the final scan made it impossible to continue.
A week of uncertainty resolved in the worst possible way
The concern around Raducanu’s fitness had been building for several days. She was reportedly seen wearing a protective boot earlier in the week, and her absence from practice courts until Saturday had heightened speculation about her status. When she did appear on Saturday, strapping was visible on her lower right leg and the session ended early after she showed obvious discomfort and struggled with her movement.
Sunday’s practice session appeared more positive, with Raducanu moving more freely and smiling through the workout, raising hopes that she might be able to at least take the court for her opening match. She said afterward that she had felt better than the previous day and described the team’s approach as exhausting every option to get her to the start line. Her willingness to accept the medical risk of potentially making the problem worse to compete was clear in how she spoke about the situation.
The final scan changed everything. What had been characterized as a niggle was confirmed as a stress fracture, and the medical advice that followed was unambiguous.
A second Wimbledon missed in four years
Raducanu withdrew from Wimbledon in 2023 following surgery on both wrists and one ankle, making this the second time in four years she has been unable to compete at the tournament that represents the most significant professional occasion on the British sporting calendar. For a player who captured the imagination of an entire nation with her US Open title as a qualifier in 2021, the repeated inability to compete at her home Grand Slam carries a particular weight.
The 2026 season has been defined by interruption. A foot problem in pre-season was followed by a prolonged absence in the spring due to post-viral illness. The Queen’s Club final represented the first extended run of matches she had played in some time, and the load from five matches in that week appears to have accelerated the development of the stress fracture that ultimately ended her Wimbledon.
What comes next
Raducanu now faces a recovery period whose length will depend on how severe the fracture is and how her body responds to rest and treatment. She indicated before the withdrawal that she was doing everything possible with her team and had strong support around her during what she acknowledged was another difficult setback in a disrupted year.
Her talent has never been the issue. The question that has followed her career since her extraordinary breakthrough five years ago is whether her body can remain healthy long enough to allow that talent to be expressed consistently at the highest level. Wimbledon 2026 was supposed to be a step toward that consistency after a promising Queen’s Club fortnight. Instead it becomes another chapter in a story of interrupted potential that Raducanu and her supporters hope will eventually resolve itself in her favor.
