Marta Kostyuk Withdraws From Rome With Right Hip Injury, Emma Raducanu Pulls Out With Post-Viral Illness

Two days after winning the biggest title of her career, Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk pulled out of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia WTA 1000 event on Tuesday, citing a right hip injury. No. 27 seed Emma Raducanu also withdrew from Rome with a post-viral illness, leaving the tournament without the No. 23 seed. Kostyuk, who was unbeaten on clay this year on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz and had won 11 matches in a row to claim titles in Rouen and Madrid, said, “After the best stretch of my career, I was looking forward to Rome.” She added, “But sometimes your body has other plans,” and said she would not be competing there this year. Raducanu’s withdrawal meant her spot would be taken by a qualifier, who would face the winner of Solana Sierra and a qualifer or lucky loser.

Raducanu’s Rome exit came minutes after she spoke to British media, with The Athletic journalist Charlie Eccleshare cited as saying the official reason was post-viral syndrome, causing persistent fatigue. The Times described how she withdrew “just half an hour after claiming she had ‘turned a corner’,” after practising on site in Rome for several days. In that press interaction, Raducanu said, “I’ve really turned a corner and I feel so much better,” and added, “I feel great on the court.” The BBC reported that she had been practising in Rome since Saturday and spoke to the media just 30 minutes before formally pulling out, while also noting that the WTA rulebook requires players to fulfil media duties on site even if they withdraw and can be fined if they fail to do so. The BBC also said Raducanu told BBC Sport before her withdrawal was announced, “I feel really good right now in terms of where I am headed.”

With Raducanu’s withdrawal confirmed at 7pm local time, the Guardian said the announcement came less than 30 minutes after she conducted upbeat media interviews at Foro Italico. The Guardian reported that players are required to conduct at least one post-withdrawal activity, including media availability, to avoid a fine, and it specified that “Had she not spoken to the media, Raducanu would have received a $15,000 (£11,000) fine.” The BBC added that Raducanu has one last chance to play a WTA event before the French Open in either Strasbourg or Rabat in two weeks’ time, but warned that if she misses the entire clay swing she would be absent for three months by the time the grass-court season begins. The BBC also said that even if she is fit for Roland Garros, which begins on 24 May, she would do so as an unseeded player. In her own remarks about her condition, Raducanu told the BBC, “I had six weeks almost of doing nothing just trying to recover from the virus, and it takes a lot out of you physically.”