Emma Raducanu retires injured as Jelena Ostapenko reaches Korea Open final
Raducanu had won the first set 6-4 before a medical time-out in the second set, which she lost 6-3. Ostapenko was then leading 3-0 in the third with a double break before Raducanu retired with a glute injury
Saturday 24 September 2022 11:15, UK
Emma Raducanu retired in the third set of her Korea Open semi-final against Latvian top seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Raducanu had won the first set 6-4 before a medical time-out in the second set, which she then lost 6-3. Ostapenko was then leading 3-0 in the third with a double break before Raducanu retired with a glute injury.
Raducanu's injury seemingly came with the Brit a break up at 2-1 in the second set, having shown fighting spirit to come back from a break down in the first. It is Raducanu's fourth retirement of the year.
The 19-year-old fell at the first hurdle in the defence of her US Open title last month, and has slipped to 77th in the world rankings from a career-high of 10th. If she had won in Korea, a return to the top 50 looked on.
Raducanu had also been bidding to reach her first final in a regular WTA Tour event after winning her three previous matches for the first time since the US Open last year.
Ostapenko will go through to play Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final after the second seed's 6-2 6-4 victory over Tatjana Maria.
