Emma Raducanu’s supporters have leapt to her defence against internet trolls who accused the tennis star of faking injury problems after she retired from her Korea Open quarter-final.
The 21-year-old Briton had just lost the first set 6-1 against top seed Daria Kasatkina when she withdrew having struggled with a foot issue.
Raducanu had previously beaten two top-50 players in Seoul en route to the last eight, in American Peyton Stearns and China’s Yue Yuan.
Looking to make just her second ever WTA Tour semi-final, having also reached the last four in Nottingham in June, the 2021 US Open champion initially saw her match against world number 13 Kasatkina rained off on Friday.
When the contest then did get underway on Saturday, Raducanu – who spoke earlier this week of wanting to play as many matches as possible before the end of the season – was broken by her Russian opponent in the second game.
She immediately broke back, but was unable to build on that and, after Kasatkina had wrapped up the set, Raducanu went over and shook her hand having decided due to the foot problem that she would not continue.
‘I wish her a speedy recovery.’
But not everyone was as gracious as Raducanu’s opponent, with social media trolls coming out of the woodwork to brutally criticise the athlete.
‘I see this for years now. Nothing new here. This is exactly the pattern Emma Raducanu have. Rather give up with a fake injury then losing the match,’ X user @zuurtje3 wrote, adding it was ‘pathetic acting’.
‘Whenever Emma starts losing the game, she quits it If you don’t believe me then check Emma’s old match records Whenever Emma starts losing the match, she makes an excuse of injury and leaves the match out of fear,’ @hddhakad9 added.
Another user @augford called her ‘a failure’ and @moto26261 echoed: ”Injured’ again whilst losing… What a shock.’
But many also hit back against the haters and supported Emma online.
‘Yeah usually, if you’re in pain or injured it’s likely to be affecting your performance and as your not physically fit, you’re probably losing. It’s not a massive conspiracy,’ @adoomosaurus pointed out.
‘Were you there muppet head?’ @hereford1terra responded to someone claiming it was a ‘fake injury’. ‘The trolls have got to try and find something negative to say when there isn’t anything. Poor souls,’ the user added.
