Britain star Emma Raducanu has wiped away tears after being forced to withdraw from her second round match at the ASB Classic.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Playing at the Auckland tournament for the first time, the 2021 US Open champion dominated by winning the first set 6-0 against Slovak Viktoria Kuzmova.
But midway through the second set of the match, which was played indoors due to continuous rain, Raducanu appeared to twist his left ankle and Kuzmova then leveled the match 7-5.
As the young Briton received treatment and strapping ahead of the deciding third set, after a point she collapsed in pain and retired.
The news was better for top seed Coco Gauff.
The world No.7 put in a clinical performance to book her place in the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-4 win over Sofia Kenin.
Gauff will face Chinese Lin Zhu in the last eight, after the Chinese player showed her fighting skills to outlast American veteran Venus Williams.
Starting on center court, but ending inside after the rain returned midway through the second set, the match went all the way.
Williams mustered all she could in the third and took the upper hand and had a chance to serve out the game at 5-4.
But it was an opportunity she couldn’t take as Zhu earned a crucial break, before also winning the next two games to advance to the quarter-finals.
The other standout name alongside Gauff in the quarter-finals would be third seed Leylah Fernandez.
The Canadian youngster looked the song again as she claimed a 6-0 6-1 victory over Austria’s Julia Grabher in the final match of the evening.
Fernandez will play in the last eight against Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure, who came from behind in a 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over Canadian eighth seed Rebecca Marino.
Elsewhere, Montenegro’s Danka Kovinich beat American Lauren Davis 4-6 6-3 6-2, while young Spaniard Rebeka Masarova continued her impressive run with a 6-1 6-4 win over Russia’s Anna Blinkova.
Masarova was set for a quarter-final against Karolina Muchova, who beat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4 6-1.
– RNZ
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