Emma Raducanu has called time on her 2025 season, with the final chapter over the last month leaving so many questions as she looks ahead to what could be a defining year in her career.
Raducanu has confirmed that she will not play again this year after a challenging few weeks in Asia that served up some worrying narratives.
This decision will have an impact on her ranking, with her stated aim of securing a seeded position for the Australian Open dented by this decision to end her season early.
She is currently at No 29 in the live rankings and could slip out of the top 30 if some of her nearest rivals finish the season on a high.
Yet Raducanu will have a chance to target fresh ranking points at the start of 2026, which could boost her hopes of a lofty seeding for the Australian Open, which gets underway in mid-January.
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The British No 1 had entered the next week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and then the Hong Kong Open beginning on October 27, but has instead decided to focus on recovery after 10 days when she has been troubled by illness.
Raducanu was forced to quit in her match against Ann Li at the Wuhan Open last week due to dizziness in sweltering temperatures and was treated by doctors after that match.
She then decided to play at the Ningbo Open this week, but was a long way from her best against qualifier Zhu Lin and received medical treatment on court before losing in three sets.
Given that backdrop, it is no surprise to see the news that Raducanu has opted to take a break from tennis, but she will do so with some concerns over the events of the last month.
Raducanu spoke to Tennis365 ahead of her opening match at the Wuhan Open and she gave no hint at that point that she was suffering from any physical issues.
A day later, she was struck down by fatigue in what were sweltering conditions and it is clear that she has not found a solution to that problem after confirming she is calling time on her 2025 campaign.
Injuries and illness have been part of the Raducanu story since her remarkable 2021 US Open win, with the four years since that triumph in New York a rollercoaster ride for an athlete who was thrust into the brightest of spotlights.
Staying fit and healthy is as big a challenge for Raducanu looking ahead to next year, as she has struggled to build momentum in her career due to the staggered nature of her story, but the overall picture as she looks back on this season should still be positive.
Raducanu has proved she can compete with the best in women’s tennis after two titanic battles against Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon and at the Cincinnati Open.
She has surged up the rankings and will finish the season as British No 1, but those positives are counteracted by some negatives.
Defeats against Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula would have stung over the last month, as she had three match points in both of those matches and failed to convert when big wins were there for the taking.
Those moments of what might have been provided a snapshot of Raducanu’s season, as she has knocked on the door and not quite managed to find a way through.
Yet she heads into 2026 with fresh hope and stability in her camp after it was confirmed she will continue to work with coach Francisco Roig, after a positive start to their working relationship over the last few months.
As always with Raducanu, expectations can outweigh the expectations, but she is on course to end the year in the top 30 of the rankings and if fitness can be combined with momentum on the court in the new year, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in 2026.
READ NEXT: A look at Emma Raducanu’s mixed 2025 season: A year of progress, pain and a coaching boost
The post Emma Raducanu’s big call will hit her ranking – but she has bigger questions to answer appeared first on Tennis365.
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