Emma Raducanu misses out on Korea Open final after retiring in defeat to Jelena Ostapenko

Emma Raducanu was denied a place in her first WTA final since winning last year’s US Open, after being forced to retire against Latvian top seed Jelena Ostapenko in the Korea Open semi-finals. It was a heart-breaking evening in Seoul for Raducanu, who won the first set 6-4, but trouble with her left glute forced the 19-year-old into a medical time out in the second set.

Ad After battling on in the third set, time was up with the Brit 3-0 down and compounded what has been a frustrating year since her stunning success at last year’s US Open. WTA SeoulRaducanu into first semi-final since winning US OpenYESTERDAY AT 09:49 The injury surfaced with the Brit a break up at 2-1 in the second set, showing tremendous resilience to recover from a break down in the first.

Sadly, she has been unable to build any momentum from that incredible US Open triumph, bowing out at the first hurdle in Flushing Meadows last month, prompting a slide down to 77th in the world rankings. A win here could have put her on course for a return to the top 50.

Injuries have sadly been a dominant feature for the Brit, with this her fourth retirement of the calendar year, as blisters, side strain, along with hip and back issues have taken their toll. However, it looked like being a very different story in a commanding first-set display from Raducanu, with the teenager’s strong service game coming to the fore.

Raducanu into first semi-final since winning US Open Federer bids farewell as emotional night ends in defeat but celebration ‘It’s exactly what I hoped for’ – Federer on ‘perfect journey’ coming to an end She came out on top in a gripping first set which ebbed and flowed with a dominant rally to go 30-love up with the score at 5-4. Ostapenko did well