Emma Raducanu came under fire from cruel internet trolls as her injury curse struck again in Korea.
The 21-year-old Briton had just lost the first set 6-1 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 No 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.
Raducanu flashed her trademark smile as she conceded the match to Kasatkina, sparking a negative reaction from some detractors on X, formerly Twitter.
