Raducanu has blood pressure taken in China defeat

Emma Raducanu is the British women's number one in singles

Britain's Emma Raducanu struggled physically in a three-set loss to world number 219 Zhu Lin in the first round of the Ningbo Open in China.

Raducanu, 22, faded badly against the Chinese wildcard, losing 3-6 6-4 6-1 in two hours 26 minutes.

She had her blood pressure and vital signs taken during the second set and was given something to eat and drink by the physio.

She also had a medical timeout in the third set for treatment on her back, with her movement and service motion visibly hindered from then on.

World number 29 Raducanu retired with illness from the first round of the Wuhan Open last week.

Raducanu has two tournaments - the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the Hong Kong Open - left on her schedule this year.

Francis Roig, who has an agreement to coach Raducanu until the end of the season, is not with her in Ningbo.

Raducanu has played 50 matches on the WTA Tour this year, the most since her breakthrough US Open triumph in 2021.

The physical demands may be starting to show, with Raducanu's movement falling away as former top-40 player Zhu extended the rallies to keep her on court for longer.

Raducanu won only 51% of points on her first serve and 38% on her second.

She raced into a 3-0 lead and served out the opening set despite four breaks of serve in the final five games.

She and Zhu exchanged breaks early in the second set before Raducanu asked for the physio. She left the court after Zhu forced a decider.

Raducanu grabbed at her back early in the third set after running for a forehand, and she made more errors as the match went on.

Zhu faces Russian top seed Mirra Andreeva in the last 16 on Wednesday.

'Season not ending how Raducanu envisaged'

The season is not ending as Raducanu had envisaged.

In Ningbo it appeared she had not fully recovered from last week's illness, and her lower back problem, which flares up from time to time, hindered her mobility.

It is only two weeks since she had three match points to beat world number five Jessica Pegula in Beijing. But since that deciding set, life has been a struggle.

Ningbo was Raducanu's 22nd tournament of the year, which represents a very full schedule.

She is still to play in Tokyo and Hong Kong, so could be out on tour until early November, unless she decides it is time to rest her body and mind and focus on 2026.