Emma Raducanu’s 2026 campaign was one of immense promise and has shown glimpses of the quality we know she possesses.
Ironically, it could be argued that this has been her most successful year since she won the US Open in 2021.
After all, reaching two WTA-level finals deserves huge praise, even if she lost both.
However, such brief triumphs have been largely surrounded by misery and despair, with her fitness and health failing her so often.
With Emma Raducanu having withdrawn from the US Open now as she continues to nurse a stress fracture in her leg, perhaps it’s time for her to call time on this season entirely.
Annabel Croft thinks Emma Raducanu should end her season now
Annabel Croft certainly thinks this might be a viable but hugely difficult decision for her to make.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the British pundit actually insisted she would not be too shocked if she took this course of action, given all she has suffered in 2026.
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Croft claimed: “It wouldn’t be a surprise if she made that decision [close down her season],” said Croft, a former world No 24. “That wouldn’t be such a bad decision to take because you can fully heal, rest up, get as much treatment as possible and then come out fully fit, raring to go at the start of next year.
“Maybe if there’s a worry about the ranking drop with so many points to defend and potentially that ranking could plummet, although she might benefit from the protected ranking.
“All of these factors have to be considered, don’t they? But at the end of the day, your health is your wealth, as they say, and that is the most important factor, and she just needs to get herself fit.”
Then, focusing on the injury, she added: “It’s an unusual injury. I mean, I’ve had calf muscle injuries, which were not nice at all. And the minute you push off, you tweak it and it feels tight but the one thing that I’ve always thought about Raducanu, particularly when we saw her at Queen’s Club on the grass where she played such beautiful tennis, is that she’s very light on her feet. Movement has always been one of her strengths.
“She’s such a great athlete. She moves around the ball. She’s light on her feet and gets into great positions where she never looks off balance. But movement will be part of a major strength of what she brings out onto the court. That needs to be absolutely 100 per cent.”
Raducanu had already suffered a big rankings drop at the start of this hard-court season. Perhaps it might be time to cut her losses.
The benefits of Emma Raducanu skipping the rest of the year
Whilst it would be an impossibly tough decision for Raducanu to make, especially considering there is still so much of the year left, it might be a wise one.
After all, it would afford her five crucial months to get her body back to the necessary level to compete regularly, sorting out both her immune system, which has broken down at times this year, as well as allowing her injury to settle.
It feels like each passing week has seen the Brit battle a new ailment, with fortune seldom on her side.
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Even when things looked to be getting brighter when Raducanu soared into the final at Queen’s, this only ended up being another setback which resulted in her missing Wimbledon.
If she were to skip the rest of the season, she could return in 2027 ready to compete again, and crucially, would have spent enough time out injured to qualify for protected ranking.
She is already losing a handful of points over this North American summer, and although she struggled for form, she did compete in Asia as well.
Raducanu is guaranteed to suffer a rankings drop, and this might be the best way to mitigate that whilst also affording her body the necessary time needed to recover.
