Emma Raducanu officially pulled out of the US Open on Monday, marking her sixth withdrawal from a major due to physical setbacks in the last five years. This time, it was on account of her stress fracture in her right shin. This drew a sympathetic reaction from former American World No. 1 Andy Roddick, who couldn’t help but share his frustration regarding the situation. 

“We might not even see her for the rest of this year. It just stinks because she is so good and it’s just the stop and start of things,” said Roddick on the latest episode of the Served Podcast. “You can’t get around a stress fracture, that’s not a pain tolerance thing at all. It has to heal otherwise you are going to cause extreme long-term damage. It just stinks. She could be such a bright spot for the tours and it just seems like there are speed bumps all the time, which is just unfortunate.” 

The fracture first surfaced in June following a strong run to the Queen’s Club final – the Brit looked in good form on the grass heading to the home slam. But the same injury forced her out of Wimbledon at the last minute. There’s recent footage of her training in Switzerland while wearing a protective boot, more evidence that her leg is simply not healed enough to be back on the tour. 

Even in the majors she played since her 2021 US Open win, she failed to advance beyond the fourth round. Now, some analysts believe that the best course of action is to sit out for the rest of the season, taking a six-month break to guarantee a protected ranking in 2027. 

The American pointed specifically to how promising her grass season had looked before the injury struck. “She was playing great at Queen’s too, like she was going to blow the roof off of Wimbledon. She is so good and so injured all the time.”

He also acknowledged the emotional toll of the pattern repeating itself. “It’s got to be kind of depressing for her too. I keep thinking we are going to get six months where we are going to be able to go and play and do all the things and we are just not able to get it.”

It is a change of tone from Roddick’s remarks following Raducanu’s Queen’s Club final loss in June when he blamed her for dropping out of Nottingham the next week, directly challenging her playing schedule. “She’s like, I haven’t played much this year. And I’m going, you haven’t played much any year,” he said at the time, arguing that building a heavier schedule was the only way she would fully convert her skills into wins.

2021 US Open was a life-changing moment for Raducanu, and since then it seems like her career has gone in a devastating arc. As she now focuses on a complete recovery, the question remains whether she will be able to regain her former glory.