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Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her opening match at the Wuhan Open on another bruisingly hot day. The world No. 30 got off to a good start when she broke her opponent, Ann Li, in the opening game. But Li stormed back to win six in a row, and Raducanu eventually called it quits with the American leading 6-1 4-1.

The Brit looked out of sorts throughout the match and called the doctor during the second set and had her vitals checked, ultimately deciding to retire.

The British No. 1, who came through a six-minute opening game, but struggled on what was another bruisingly hot day in Wuhan, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees, and humidity going above 60 per cent.

Li immediately got the break back and continued rolling through, dominating in the 28-minute opening set. There were too many mistakes from Raducanu, who also hit just three winners to Li's 13.

The American continued to pile on the pressure, and the world No. 30 was made to work for her first service hold. Raducanu survived a gruelling 10-minute game to start the second set, hitting four double faults but still getting on the board.

The Brit finally had another look at a couple of break points as Li's first serve percentage just started to drop. But Li shut the door, saving both with winners, and held on.

Raducanu continued to struggle, and another sloppy game gave the American a crucial break. "I feel like she's just going for broke and she does not want any long rallies here," Annabel Croft said on Sky Sports.

The former US Open champion looked like she was in a bad way as she sat down at the change of ends. And the match quickly ran away from her, as she threw in another double fault to get broken.

Li extended her lead to 4-1 and Raducanu finally decided to call the physio and doctor to the court, having her blood pressure and temperature taken.

"I do feel maybe she should have called for attention earlier in the match when it was clear that she wasn't feeling herself," Jonathan Overend said on Sky commentary as Raducanu was examined. "I suppose you're proud out there, you don't want to give anything away to your opponent, you don't want to let anyone know that you're not feeling great but the bottom line is health has to be the utmost priority."

The Brit had a brief chat with the doctor while they looked into her eyes. Raducanu then shook her head and stood up to officially retire from the match, shaking hands with Li.

The American is now through to the second round, and she said: "First I want to wish Emma a fast recovery, not sure but it looked like she wasn't feeling good. We had a tough match last time we played so I knew it was going to be tough but hopefully she feels better, but I'm happy with my performance, was able to stay pretty solid the entire match."

It's only day two of the Wuhan Open, but conditions have been brutal, with play on outdoor courts suspended on Monday due to extreme heat, while the roof was used on the centre court so players could compete in air conditioning.

The heat rule was in effect on Tuesday, which allows players to take a 10-minute off-court break before entering a third and final set. The roof on the centre court, which Raducanu was playing on, was partially closed to provide some shade.