Emma Raducanu, 23, is in a race against time to compete at the US Open 2026, which begins on August 30. The Briton is suffering from a grade-four stress fracture in her right shin, an injury sustained after her run to the Queen's Club final in June.
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Six weeks without competition
Raducanu has not played competitively since her defeat in the Queen's Club final against Donna Vekic in late June. The intensity of her schedule at the London tournament, three matches in 28 hours during the concluding weekend, appears to have triggered the stress fracture. Medical imaging revealed that an initial stress reaction had progressed to a grade-four fracture visible on MRI, forcing the Briton to withdraw from Wimbledon on the eve of her first-round match.
A string of withdrawals before Flushing Meadows
The 2021 US Open champion has since announced a series of withdrawals. She has pulled out of the National Bank Open in Toronto and the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati, the last two major warm-up tournaments before the US Open. More recently, she was omitted from Britain's squad for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals scheduled for September in China, fueling further doubts about the state of her recovery (Sky Sports). Her 2026 season, already disrupted by recurring physical setbacks, amounts to just 17 competitive matches before her Queen's Club campaign.
A possible but uncertain return
Rehabilitation from a stress fracture of this grade can take up to two months. Sources close to the player indicate she is doing everything possible to accelerate the process and that a US Open appearance is not ruled out (Yahoo Sports). Raducanu remains on the tournament's entry list, but her presence in New York will depend on her recovery over the next four weeks. For the Briton, who famously conquered Flushing Meadows in 2021 in one of tennis's greatest fairy tales, the stakes go beyond rankings. At 23, every missed Grand Slam weighs heavily in a career that has been marked by injuries since her breakthrough triumph in New York.
