The missed time sits against a short career already marked by a long gap since her US Open title, won in New York as a teenage qualifier. Later this week there will be 24 candles on her birthday cake.
By the time she plays again, she will have been on the sidelines for more than six months. Delaying the comeback will allow her to use a special ranking of 38 to enter tournaments.
A special ranking is available to players who have been out with injury for at least six months. In Raducanu’s case, it reflects her position in the world rankings after Wimbledon, where she received some prize money despite not playing a match.
The 23-year-old has not competed since June. She said the stress fracture was confirmed only after a final scan on the night before Wimbledon.
In her desperation to play, she had continued to train at times in the run-up to the championships, when medical advice had suggested that might be unwise.
She made a gradual return to training in early September. Four months is a long time to prepare without competitive matches, and the layoff will run well beyond that before she is back on court.
She had contemplated playing a couple of events in Asia this autumn. A few tournaments there would have helped her regain match sharpness and might have allowed a faster start to 2027.
Instead, the return has been put back to January. Kartal said there had been a “lot of conversations” about where she should make that return.
The tour’s match load shows what she has been away from. Elena Rybakina, for example, played 68 matches across 20 tournaments this year as she rose to the top of the world rankings for the first time.