Raducanu has two tournaments – the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the Hong Kong Open – left on her schedule this yr.
Francis Roig, who has an settlement to educate Raducanu till the tip of the season, is just not together with her in Ningbo.
Raducanu has performed 50 matches on the WTA Tour this yr, probably the most since her breakthrough US Open triumph in 2021.
The bodily calls for could also be beginning to present, with Raducanu’s motion falling away as former top-40 participant Zhu prolonged the rallies to maintain her on court docket for longer.
Raducanu received solely 51% of factors on her first serve and 38% on her second.
She raced right into a 3-0 lead and served out the opening set regardless of 4 breaks of serve within the last 5 video games.
She and Zhu exchanged breaks early within the second set earlier than Raducanu requested for the physio. She left the court docket after Zhu pressured a decider.
Raducanu grabbed at her again early within the third set after operating for a forehand, and she or he made extra errors because the match went on.
Zhu faces Russian prime seed Mirra Andreeva within the final 16 on Wednesday.
