Emma Raducanu has pulled out of the Miami Open due to post-viral symptoms related to the illness she picked up in the Middle East last month.
The British No1 was on site at the Hard Rock Stadium on Monday and practised with world No77 Eva Lys in the morning, but her body language appeared to suggest all was not well and it was confirmed later in the afternoon that she was not physically ready to compete.
Raducanu, 23, had been handed a first-round bye in Miami and was not due to play before Thursday at the prestigious WTA 1000 event, where she reached the quarter-finals last year. She was due to face the winner of the match between fellow Briton Sonay Kartal and the American Peyton Stearns — although Kartal has also withdrawn due to the back injury she persevered through while reaching the fourth round at Indian Wells.
Raducanu’s withdrawal has ended the chance of a clash with British No2 Kartal in the second round of the Miami Open Clive Brunskill/Getty
Raducanu’s withdrawal adds to what has already been a tumultuous start to her year. The world No23 was inhibited by a foot injury during the off season and then parted ways with her coach, Francisco Roig, after a disappointing second-round exit at the Australian Open.
Raducanu reached the final of the Transylvania Open — her first WTA Tour-level final since her remarkable US Open victory in 2021 — with hitting partner Alexis Canter acting as her coach, but that momentum was derailed by the chest infection that continues to affect her.
After first-round exits in Doha, where she retired mid-match, and in Dubai, Raducanu headed to Tokyo to announce her reported £2.6million sponsorship deal with Uniqlo before making her comeback at Indian Wells earlier this month, having reunited with former coach Mark Petchey on an informal basis for the tournament.
Raducanu was forced to retire from her first-round match against Camila Osorio at the Qatar Open back in February due to illnessAmr Alfiky/Reuters
The move initially aided Raducanu’s attempt to recapture her aggressive style, with tweaks to her serve and forehand visible in a blistering opening victory over Anastasia Zakharova.
However, Raducanu was then overpowered by world No6 Amanda Anisimova in a bruising 52-minute 6-1 6-1 defeat. Raducanu, noticeably, did not chase down a handful of drop-shots during the match but she did not refer to illness afterwards and insisted she was still able to take the positives from her work in practice with Petchey before the tournament.
Raducanu is not scheduled to play again until the Linz Open in the second week of April, which takes place on clay in Austria.
It remains to be seen if she will attempt to hire a new coach during the extended period of recovery. Before loss against Anisimova, Raducanu said that her natural way of playing had been eroded after working with nine different coaches since Wimbledon in 2021 and that she was reluctant to rush into making an appointment that didn’t suit her desired game style.
Raducanu’s run to the Transylvania Open final was the furthest she had gone in any WTA Tour-level competition since her US Open win in 2021Robert Prange/Getty
Petchey has worked with Raducanu twice before, in 2020 and 2025, but his broadcast commitments with the Tennis Channel mean he cannot commit to the role full-time, and Canter oversaw her practice session on Monday in Miami.
“I don’t necessarily want to have one coach in the role because anyone I bring in is straight away going to be scrutinised — even if it’s a trial,” Raducanu said.
“I might feel the pressure to stick with them, even if it’s not necessarily the right decision. I would love to have a coach that works well, but I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be easy to find one person and they are going to check every box.”
Raducanu and Kartal’s withdrawals leave only Katie Boulter, who will face world No48 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round, and Fran Jones, who faces Venus Williams, in the women’s draw. In a twist of fate, Jones practised with the 45-year-old seven-times grand-slam singles champion at the ATX Open in Texas in February.
Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie both received first-round byes after their respective runs to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, which meant the latter reclaimed the British No1 ranking. Jacob Fearnley will face Martin Damm, a 6ft8in wild card from Florida.
