New Delhi, June 29 : The British No. 1 Emma Raducanu has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon due to a stress fracture in her lower leg. Raducanu, who had been managing a lower leg issue, announced her withdrawal 12 hours before her first-round match against Croatian Antonia Ruzic.

She had been dealing with what she described as a "niggle" in her lower leg since reaching the final at the Queen's Championships earlier this month -- her second final on the WTA Tour this year. In a statement posted to social media confirming her withdrawal, the 23-year-old said she has been advised to stop pushing through after the niggle developed into a stress fracture.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but sadly I've had to withdraw from this year's Wimbledon. I've done everything possible to try to get to the start line, but after a final scan tonight, the niggle I've been managing has developed into a stress fracture and I've been medically advised to stop pushing through. Playing at Wimbledon, in front of a home crowd, means everything to me, so this is really difficult to process," she posted on her Instagram story section.

Concerns about the 2021 US Open champion's readiness to compete at Wimbledon grew over the past week, beginning when Raducanu was spotted wearing a protective boot on Wednesday. She returned to the court on Saturday to test her fitness and wore strapping on her lower right leg in a training session with her team. She later cut a practice session with Anna Kalinskaya short.

The stress fracture is the latest in a list of physical problems for Raducanu this season. She could not train properly for most of the off-season due to another foot injury, then struggled with a virus for much of February.

Raducanu then missed WTA 1000 events in Miami, Madrid and Rome due to lingering concerns from the illness, and confirmed she had been dealing with the leg problem since the end of the clay-court swing.

/IANS