EMMA RADUCANU was thrashed in the cold in Prague as she suffered a foot blister at the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs.
As the temperature plummeted to six degrees, the British No.1 was crushed 6-1 6-1 by Czech star Marketa Vondrousova in 62 minutes on day two of this tie at the Cesky Lawn Tennis Club.
Raducanu – who wore leggings due to the coldness – was broken seven times and hit four double faults as she suffered one of her quickest defeats in a professional sphere.
After losing the first set inside 26 minutes, Raducanu took a medical timeout and went backstage for treatment.
The LTA confirmed it was for a foot blister and her absence from court only annoyed Vondrousova, who eventually went to the locker room to keep warm.
Raducanu was not moving freely and there was often a grimace of her face when she was playing the second set.
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Vondrousova, who broke British hearts when she beat Jo Konta en route to the French Open final in 2019, smashed Harriet Dart on the Friday and gave the US Open champion a reality check here.
It means the Czechs have now moved 2-1 ahead and only need to win one of the two remaining matches to claim this tie overall and progress to the Finals stage, which will be held in November.
It is fair to say this is the coldest environment in which Raducanu has played a professional match and though the blister will eventually heal, it is yet another physical issue she has had to content with on court.
Raducanu said: “I have a blister on my foot. It kind of showed up after yesterday’s match.
“We’ve been managing it but as you saw, I couldn’t really move or load either way.
“And now it’s just about trying to get it better as soon as possible.
“It completely stopped me from moving. It’s tough not to be even able to chase the ball.
“It was compromising every show I had to play. So yeah, it’s very disappointing when you’re out there playing a rubber for your country and you feel like completely redundant.
“But I guess I can’t really do anything about it.”
