Wimbledon needs to make a rule change after Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper’s withdrawals
Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu have both withdrawn from Wimbledon at the last-minute in a huge blow to British tennis.
Raducanu announced a stress fracture will keep her from playin Antonia Ruzic in round one, less than 24 hours before the match was set to take place.
“I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line tomorrow but after a final scan tonight, the niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fracture,” said Raducanu in a statement.
“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.
“I want to thank you all for your support and encouragement. Especially at a time like this, it is invaluable. I look forward to seeing you when I’m back.”
She was joined by Draper, who confirmed complications with his arm injury from last year, would stop him from playing his blockbuster first round match against Fritz.
“Devastated to share that I have had to withdraw from my first round match due to a recurrence of my arm injury,” said Draper in a statement.
“There have been a lot of painful moments in the last 12 months but this one is definitely the absolute worst as there is no greater honour for a British player than playing at Wimbledon. I will continue to persevere through this. Thank you for the support.”
Since the draw was already made before Draper and Raducanu’s withdrawals from Wimbledon, they will still receive 50% of the prize money for a first round exit.
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According to the rulebook: “Players who withdraw on-site become eligible to receive 50% of the first-round prize money only if they have competed in one tournament in the twenty-one (21) days before the commencement of the main draw for the Grand Slam Tournament.”
Since Raducanu played Queen’s and Draper played Eastbourne, they will earn £40,000 in prize money without even entering the court at Wimbledon.
While an injury can’t be helped, and both Raducanu and Draper seem to be suffering from what could be potentially lengthy injuries, this ruling will only allow last-minute withdrawals to happen.
Players will continue to enter Grand Slams with injury niggles until the draw is made to receive a pay-out from the Grand Slam without playing.
There should either be a ruling that doesn’t allow injured players to earn that amount in prize money without playing, or the draw should be made later and injured players who enter the draw without playing should receive a fine for doing so.
While it’s understandable that Draper and Raducanu wanted to leave it late to see if they could play their home Grand Slam, it’s not fair that they receive prize money for doing so.
