Emma Raducanu slammed for pulling out of pre-Australian Open charity matches AFTER fans had arrived
EMMA RADUCANU has enraged fans after pulling out of a pre-Australian Open charity match at extremely short notice.
The former British No1 has since withdrawn from a second successive match on Thursday raising serious doubts over her fitness.
The 21-year-old was set to play four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka who also unexpectedly cancelled on Tuesday.
In fact, Osaka was the first to pull out, with Donna Vekic stepping in at short notice to face Raducanu at Melbourne Park.
But the Brit herself then decided to bow out from the event as a precaution.
According to the Daily Star, Raducanu withdrew after waking up and feeling a ‘little soreness’ following a two hour practice on Monday.
And supporters, many of whom had already arrived, were left furious at the decision.
One fan fumed: “So not cool. Not everyone got the texts. Disgraceful letting some people know so late in the day.”
Another wrote: “Disappointing to say the least. It’s meant to be a warm up match for fans. Slack!”
A third said: “This is so unprofessional. People legit travelled across the country for this.”
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The upcoming Australian Open marks Raducanu’s first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament for a year.
The 2021 US Open champion was side-lined for eight months after undergoing surgery on both wrists and her ankle in May.
Raducanu, who is ranked 229, made a successful comeback at the Auckland Classic after being beating Gabriele Ruse, before losing in three sets to Elina Svitolina in the second round.
She was scheduled to play a second exhibition match on Thursday against Russian teen sensation Mirra Andreeva but has now pulled out of that.
The positive news for Raducanu is that she has bypassed qualifying for the first Grand Slam of the year.
She was initially scheduled for the qualifiers but enough people dropped out for her to gain automatic entry into the main draw.