Raducanu’s bid toreachfinalis ended by injury
Emma Raducanu missed out on a place in the Korea Open Final as she was forced to retire through injury during her semi-final.
The 19-year-old Briton was trailing 4-6 6-3 3-0 to Latvian, Jelena Ostapenko, in Seoul, but was unable to complete the match due to a muscle issue.
Raducanu had come from a break down to win the first set, but former French Open champion Ostapenko levelled in the second and had edged ahead.
Last year’s US Open champion had been bidding to reach her first final in a regular WTA Tour event after winning her three previous matches.
She fell behind early in the first set, but broke back immediately and claimed a decisive break at 4-4.
Raducanu carried the momentum into the second set and broke again, but this time Ostapenko hit back quickly.
The young Brit needed a medical time-out, and could not halt Ostapenko’s charge when she returned to the court.
The Latvian broke again, and went on to take the second set before taking control of the third.
Ostapenko went through to play Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Final after the second seed’s 6-2 6-4 victory over Tatjana Maria.
LORENZO Sonego beat one of the ATP Tour’s biggest servers in Hubert Hurkacz to reach the final of the Moselle Open in Metz.
In a semi-final clash with few opportunities on return, it was Sonego who held his nerve to advance to his fifth tour-level final with a 7-6(5) 6-4 win. He stayed consistent to claim the firstset tie-break before converting the sole break point of the match at 3-3 in the second set to wrap a 99-minute victory.
“I’m really happy, because this is my first final this year, and I’ve played so well day after day,” said Sonego after the match.
“I’m really happy for that. Hubi is a great server, and it’s very tough to return the ball, but today I played so well and I enjoyed every moment on court.”
Sonego will play for his third ATP Tour title in today’s final against Alexander Bublik.
The seventh seed advanced to his second tour-level championship match of the season after Stan Wawrinka was forced to retire after just three games of the pair’s semi-final clash.