And the bad luck continues for Emma Raducanu. First, she suffered a shocking third-round loss at the Indian Wells Open to Amanda Anisimova, 6-1, 6-1, in under an hour. Then she withdrew from WTA Tour events in Miami and Linz. Now the same trend continues this week, as she has withdrawn from the Madrid Open, further delaying her anticipated start to the clay-court season.
The world No. 27 has a 7–7 win-loss record in the 2026 season, with the highlight being her run to the final of the Transylvania Open. This was her first appearance on the final stage since the US Open in 2021. While Raducanu was expected to put in strong performances on clay, her momentum was halted by the viral illness she encountered in February during the Middle East swing.
The 23-year-old’s absence is set to continue, meaning she won’t begin her clay swing until May. Having now pulled out of the Madrid Open, which begins on April 22, it has been confirmed that she is prioritizing a full recovery before starting her clay-court season.
Notably, fitness has been somewhat of a struggle for Raducanu throughout her career. She has previously failed to stay fully fit for long periods of time. While her condition was much better last year, allowing her to play over 50 matches for the first time in her career, the issues have well and truly returned in the last few months.
Raducanu has shown she can become a fine clay-court player, but has never found moving on the surface easy. She had a very promising debut clay-court season in 2022, but she eventually hurt her back in Madrid and had to retire from her first match in Rome a week later.
Official: Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Madrid Open.
She has not played since Indian Wells, citing recovery from a viral illness as her reason for withdrawing from recent tournaments.
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) April 19, 2026
Even much of the following year was lost to the operations she had on her hands and left ankle. In 2024, he played very promisingly on indoor clay, bagging two matches for Great Britain against France in the Billie Jean King Cup before reaching the quarterfinals in Stuttgart. But then came the heavy first-round defeat by qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in Madrid.
Last year, she played four clay-court events, which saw her reach the fourth round in Rome, but she experienced further back issues in Strasbourg and after competing at Roland Garros.
Even her ongoing season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. She began the year on a positive note and made it to the quarterfinals of the Hobart International. However, she failed to go on a deep run at the Australian Open, suffering a second-round exit to Anastasia Potapova, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
It was after this result that the British player decided to part ways with coach Francisco Roig, who hadn’t even spent six months with her team. She then made the surprising decision of not naming a replacement for Roig and instead continued to work with her hitting partner, Alexis Canter.
This move appeared to benefit Raducanu as she made it to the final of the Transylvania Open. But her wait for a title continued as Sorana Cîrstea handed her a one-sided 6-0, 6-2 defeat in the penultimate match. Fitness issues then followed her at the Qatar Open, as she retired from her first-round clash against Camila Osorio while trailing 2-6, 6-4, 2-0 due to dizziness.
As fate would have it, things didn’t get better at the Dubai Championships either, as Raducanu bowed out in the first round, this time to Antonia Ružić. After struggling to find her rhythm in the Middle East, she decided to bring back Mark Petchey as her coach ahead of the Indian Wells Masters.
Having had two coaching stints with Raducanu in the past, Petchey was expected to bring a change in her fortunes. However, the appointment didn’t really go as planned, and she suffered a crushing 1-6, 1-6 defeat at the hands of Amanda Anisimova.
Now, her constant absence might deal a major blow to her morale, and it remains to be seen when she will make her much-awaited return to the court.
Interestingly, Raducanu isn’t the only player who will be out of action in the Spanish capital, as several others have also withdrawn from the tournament.
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and many more withdraw from the Madrid Open
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz will be one of the biggest misses of the tournament. He has pulled out due to an injury he sustained during his first-round clash against Otto Virtanen. Though the Spaniard had won the match 6-4, 6-2, the injury led him to withdraw from the event in Barcelona as well. He will be hoping to return by the time the Rome Open commences on May 5.
Another notable absentee will be Novak Djokovic, who is yet to recover from the right shoulder injury that he picked up after his defeat against Jack Draper at the Indian Wells Masters. He has yet to return to court since then.
Additionally, Taylor Fritz will not be participating due to his persistent knee issues. He hasn’t been in action since his defeat to Jiri Lehecka in the R16 of the Miami Open. Holger Rune will also be absent as he is still recovering from the ACL injury that he sustained last year at the Stockholm Open.
On the other hand, Emma Navarro and Maya Joint are the notable women’s players to have withdrawn from the Madrid Open so far. While Navarro is still dealing with undisclosed health issues, Joint has been out of action since the Indian Wells Open because of a back injury.
Though several players have already decided to pull out, the majority of the high-ranked players will still be in action in the Spanish capital, and there won’t be a lack of star power by any means. Who do you think will come out on top on Madrid’s clay courts? Let us know your predictions in the comments.
