British No. 1 Emma Raducanu withdraws from Italian Open with post-viral illness just weeks before Roland-Garros - reports

The British No. 1 had been practicing in Rome in recent days and completed her media duties on Tuesday.

However, a tournament supervisor reportedly communicated the 23-year-old's withdrawal shortly after, citing post-viral symptoms from a chest infection first picked up in February.

Despite telling reporters that she was not feeling "100%”, Raducanu reportedly gave no indication she planned to pull out of the tournament.

”The last two months, in the beginning, it was quite difficult,” she said, according to The Times. ”I wasn’t feeling the best physically and I think it had just been lingering for a while.

"Whereas the last three weeks, I think I’ve really turned a corner and I feel so much better. And that’s a really positive thing for me.”

Raducanu was set to begin her campaign later this week against either Solana Sierra or a qualifier.

The decision extends her wait to play on clay this season, with the French Open getting underway in less than three weeks, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

The Brit has not featured since Indian Wells in March, missing the Miami Open because of the viral illness, before opting out of the clay-court events in Linz and Madrid as she struggled to recover.

A hand injury also contributed to her decision to withdraw from last week's tournament in the Spanish capital.

Raducanu reached the fourth round of the Italian Open last season before losing to eventual champion Coco Gauff, whom she was projected to face in the third round this year.

Raducanu's latest withdrawal is a particularly big disappointment given the strength of the players involved in Rome, with all the WTA’s top 20 set to compete.

It is also the last WTA 1000 event before Roland-Garros, though there are WTA tournaments in Strasbourg and Rabat in the week before the second Grand Slam tournament of the season.

In her last outing at Indian Wells, Raducanu was thumped 6-1 6-1 in the third round by Amanda Anisimova.

The Brit was once again briefly working with Mark Petchey at that tournament, following her split from coach Francis Roig at the end of January.

However, she has worked mainly with hitting partner Alexis Canter since parting ways with the Spaniard, while she spent time last week with Andrew Richardson – her coach when she won the US Open in 2021 – and was seen working with childhood coach Jane O'Donoghue in Rome.

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