Emma Raducanu suffered an injury scare ahead of the French Open as she went out of the Strasbourg Open.
The 22-year-old left the court during the second set of her second-round clash with American Danielle Collins for treatment on a back problem, though appeared to recover.
Having won the first set, Raducanu was 5-0 down when she called a medical timeout before returning to the court 10 minutes later.
Although she was able to finish the match, she went down to a 4-6 6-1 6-3 defeat to Collins.
With the French Open starting on Sunday, Raducanu will now have the problem fully assessed before travelling to Paris, though the way she competed hard in a tight third set could suggest it was not too serious.
She took a wild card to enter the final warm-up tournament for Roland Garros in eastern France – not something she has usually done in the build-up to a grand slam.
The British No 2, who is chasing Katie Boulter as the highest-ranked Briton, started off well by winning the first set against the world No 46.
But her level immediately dropped and after walking through the fifth game, where she went 5-0 down, she left the court for lengthy treatment.
Collins quickly wrapped up the second set and there was a fear she could also run away with the decider.
But to her credit, Raducanu fought hard and was primed to take a 3-1 lead but could not convert four break points.
It was tightly poised at 3-3 after an exchange of breaks, but Collins put her foot down to win the final three games as Raducanu fell away.
PA
