Emma Raducanu appears to have ended her injury-disrupted season as her name is missing from the entry lists of the tournaments remaining on the 2026 WTA Tour calendar.
The 23-year-old’s last competitive match was on 14 June when she lost the HSBC Championship final against Donna Vekic on the grass at Queen’s Club.
She was initially expected to play the following week at the Nottingham Open, but withdrew and then also pulled out of Wimbledon on the eve of the Grand Slam due to a stress fracture in her leg.
There was talk that she would make her return during the North American hard-court swing, but she skipped the entire campaign and now looks set to also miss the final stretch of the season as she is unlikely to feature in Asia.
Raducanu already missed the ongoing China Open in Beijing while her name is also not on the entry list for next week’s Wuhan Open.
What’s To Come
Raducanu and her coaching team have given very little away about the serious nature of the injury or her recovery while they have also kept mum about a possible return.
After the back-to-back WTA 1000 events in China, the focus switches to the Ningbo Open and Japan Open with those two events starting on 19 October, but the 2021 US Open winner is not on the entry list for those tournaments.
Emma Raducanu News
As is the case for the Pan Pacific Open and the Guangzhou Open, which runs from 26 October until 1 November. The Hong Kong Open and the Chennai Open – 2 to 8 November – are the final events of the regular WTA Tour season and Raducanu’s name is also missing from those events.
Of course, Raducanu could still accept late wildcards into the main draws of any of the above events, but the fact that her name is not on the entry lists suggests she has decided to switch focus to the 2027 season.
WTA Rankings Slide
Following her runners-up finish to Vekic at Queen’s Club, Raducanu returned to the top 30 of the rankings and she was projected to be seeded at Wimbledon, but her injury prevented her from playing at the All England Club.
Her absence has resulted in her slipping to No 100 in the official rankings, but she will drop out of the top 100 next week as she currently sits at No 107 in the Live WTA Rankings.
But there is some good news for Raducanu as she doesn’t have any points to defend during the final few months of the year.
Protected Rankings
Despite her drop, Raducanu will still be able to gain entry into tournaments next year as she will be able to use her protected ranking, as she has missed more than six months of competition due to injury.
Players can use their protected ranking to get direct entry into the main draws of eight tournaments during a single season, which means she won’t need wildcards if she does make her return during the Australian swing at the start of 2027.
