Defending champion Jannik Sinner retired with cramp in the third round of the Shanghai Masters this week, while 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic vomited during his win over Yannick Hanfmann.
A deep run in Wuhan would have boosted Raducanu’s chances of being seeded for January’s Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season.
The 2021 US Open champion broke in the first game before Li won six successive games – dropping only one point on serve – to wrap up the opening set in 28 minutes.
Raducanu looked fatigued as she recovered from three double faults to hold serve at the start of the second set.
But she failed to convert two break points in the next game and a series of sluggish unforced errors then helped Li break for a 2-1 lead.
A double fault handed Li another break, and Raducanu called for a medical timeout before retiring.
“I hope she feels better. I don’t know what happened, but you could tell towards the end she was maybe not moving as much. But, for me, it was good match,” Li said.
The world number 46 will face Russian ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko 6-3 6-2 on Monday, in the second round.
Earlier on Tuesday, Japanese four-time major winner Naomi Osaka beat Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 4-6 7-5 6-3 to reach round two.
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