Emma Raducanu pulls out of Korea Open match due to injury as Briton misses final

Emma Raducanu missed the chance to make her first-ever WTA Tour final as she retired injured mid-match in her Korean Open semi-final against Jelena Ostapenko. Fitness issues hit the Briton again, who required a medical time-out in the second set due to a gluteal problem. She conceded the loss at 6-4, 3-6, 0-3 at the top seed in Seoul despite the first set.

Raducanu had a tough 2022 due to form, fitness and confidence issues, but appeared to be on the rise in East Asia. The world No. 77, who was 11th in the world at the end of August, had achieved by far her best run of the year.

She hoped to mark this improvement by reaching the final - especially after winning the first set in impressive fashion against Ostapenko. Yet the 19-year-old, who had chained three straight wins for the first time in 2022 before that semi-final, retired 3-0 in the third after winning just one of six games after her enforced timeout. /p>

As a result, Raducanu misses only her second career final following her triumph at the 2021 US Open. Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, the tournament's second seed, awaits Ostapenko in Sunday's final. It's another setback for the Briton, who finally seemed to be in good shape in Korea.

Raducanu started well and had a chance to immediately break No.1 seed Ostapenko at the first opportunity, but wasted two break points. Instead, it was the Latvian who took the first break of serve in Raducanu's first service game.

The Briton immediately fell back, thanks to a formidable forehand winner. She then comfortably held her next two service games as the teenager found her rhythm.

At 3-3, she forced Ostapenko to average three more points in her service games as she won the match against her opponent. The tables turned in the following match, which was much easier for Ostapenko, but the British No. 1 was in for the fight after that, gouging herself out at 30 to defend herself once again.

And a double fault from Ostapenko gave Raducanu the break to serve for the set, and she took the lead. But it wasn't before the former defended two set points excellently. The third saw Raducanu conclude the first set after 53 minutes.

Raducanu broke Ostapenko on her second service game in the second set and it looked like she had the upper hand. But she immediately gave up that advantage when the world No. 19 immediately withdrew, with the Briton rather obediently giving up her serve.

The momentum shifted in Ostapenko's direction dramatically after she won a love service match, the first of the game. Raducanu then called the coach to stretch his lower back and had to leave the pitch for a medical time-out.

Raducanu pulled away from three minutes of treatment on her left glute and returned to the service line. But she lost her serve once more before succumbing to another game of love service afterwards.

The Briton seemed to restore some much-needed confidence as she held with a forehand down the line, but Ostapenko recovered from 0-30 up on serve to clinch the second set. Raducanu's serve dropped significantly, with Ostapenko hitting many more winners.

This theme continued in the third as she won the first three matches within 10 minutes. And the physically embarrassed Raducanu opted to concede defeat after winning just one of six games after timeout. It ends a promising run in Korea, and she hopes to continue where she left off when she returns to the field. She moves up to at least 66th place in the world thanks to her run to the semi-finals.