WATCH: Emma Raducanu offers comforting embrace to Dayana Yastremska after Ukrainian retires from Indian Wells 2R clash due to injury
Emma Raducanu embraced Dayana Yastremska after the latter was forced to retire from their second-round match at Indian Wells on Saturday (March 9).
The Brit was leading 4-0 in the first game when Yastremska started clutching at her stomach. The physios couldn't seem to do much in order to help her return to the baseline and she was eventually forced to retire from the match.
The Brit was sympathetic towards her Ukrainian opponent and offered her a warm embrace before the latter walked off the court.
Watch the video below:
Their only meeting before this match ended in a similar fashion as well, when Yastremska retired from the second round of the 2022 Slovenia Open with Raducanu leading 6-2, 5-3. The former made headlines in January when she reached the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open as a qualifier.
However, Yastremska's form since her loss to Zheng Qinwen in Melbourne has been far from impressive. A first-round exit in Dubai was sandwiched between second-round defeats at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz and the San Diego Open to Donna Vekic and Anna Blinkova, respectively.
For Raducanu, the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells is shaping up as an ideal response to her straight-sets first-round defeat against Anhelina Kalinina in Doha. Before her walkover win against Yastremska, the 2021 US Open champion dispatched Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 6-3 in her opening match in 'Tennis Paradise'.
Emma Raducanu says she wants to work on developing her game: "I want to work on becoming a better tennis player"
Emma Raducanu has said that instead of playing a lot of matches to regain her form, she wants to work on becoming a 'better tennis player'.
The Brit was out for eight months in 2023 after undergoing surgeries on both her wrists and one of her ankles. Since her return to the court in January at the ASB Classic, she has amassed a 5-4 record and did not get past the second round of any tournament before her win against Dayana Yastremska at Indian Wells.
Ahead of her match against the Ukrainian, Raducanu talked about her goals for 2024. She said (via BBC Sport):
"I think for me I'm not too concerned about this year's tournaments. I want to work on becoming a better tennis player. Taking time to do that is very necessary and not just following the crowd, or playing a lot of matches, or dropping down (to Challenger level) to do that. I want to work on developing skills. A lot of people out there would say that I need matches, but I think that for me I want to work on my game and development."
The 21-year-old's next assignment is a third-round match in Indian Wells against either Peyton Stearns or two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.