Emma Raducanu, the British number one, has withdrawn from the Madrid Open due to a hand injury suffered hours before her first-round match.

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old was scheduled to face Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.

Raducanu’s absence almost certainly means she will fall out of the world’s top 100.

In recent months, the 2021 US Open winner has been hampered by a wrist injury.

Raducanu’s most recent outing was a 6-2 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart earlier this month, which knocked her to 85th in the world rankings.

She missed Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup loss to France in order to prepare for the clay-court portion of the season.

Her loss in Stuttgart was her second in a straight in the first round, following a loss to Bianca Andreescu in the Miami Open last month.

Raducanu felt pain in her right wrist while fighting Andreescu and afterwards stated that she needed to find a long-term remedy.

The injury interrupted her 2022 season early, but she returned before Indian Wells this month, where she reached the final 16 despite being plagued by tonsillitis.

Raducanu, who has only played 10 matches this season, is scheduled to compete in the Italian Open in Rome on May 8, followed by the French Open on May 28.