Image source, Getty Images
Emma Raducanu reached the third round of three of the four Grand Slams this year
Britain's Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her final two events of the year because of the illness she has been battling over the past 10 days.
The 22-year-old was due to play in Tokyo and Hong Kong but has decided to fly home to recover before starting her preparations for 2026.
Those preparations will include coach Francisco Roig, as the pair have agreed to work together again next season.
Raducanu had her blood pressure taken during her first-round match with Ann Li in Wuhan last week and retired when trailing 6-1 4-1 on an oppressively humid day.
She again required a visit from the doctor at this week's Ningbo Open, where she lost in three sets to Chinese wildcard Zhu Lin in the opening round.
Raducanu was also moving far from freely in the deciding set against Zhu because of the lower back problem that has troubled her at times this year.
Those results meant an encouraging season, in which Raducanu rose into the world's top 30 for the first time in more than three years, ended with three successive defeats.
Raducanu had three match points before losing to Jessica Pegula in the third round in Beijing last month.
Raducanu won 28 matches this year and reached the semi-finals in Washington, but her most impressive week was at the Miami Open in March.
The British number one reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 event, beating eighth seed Emma Navarro on the way before losing in three sets to fourth-ranked Pegula.
She was coached by Mark Petchey from Miami until Wimbledon, with Roig taking over in time for the US Open.
The initial agreement with Rafael Nadal's former coach was until the end of the season but the partnership will continue, with a training block pencilled in for the end of the year.
Raducanu told BBC Sport her three-day trial with Roig after Wimbledon was like a "black ops mission" as they tried to keep the meeting secret.
She came very close to beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka at their first tournament together in Cincinnati in August.
Roig was also with Raducanu in New York, where she reached the third round before being beaten by 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.