Emma Raducanu gave a candid analysis of her disappointing defeat at the Qatar Open minutes after Anhelina Kalinina beat her 6-0 7-6(6). The British No. 7 confessed that she was “struggling” with all elements of her game and explained that the gruelling tour schedule was something she needed to get used to.
Raducanu was ousted in the opening round of a tournament for the first time this year. Since returning in Auckland last month, the world No. 262 had reached three successive second-rounds.
The 21-year-old played the worst set of her comeback so far as she was bagelled in just 23 minutes and won only five points on her own service games. But she started to raise her level, breaking the world No. 30 twice and saving two match points before she finally fell in a second-set tiebreak.
Raducanu immediately came to speak to Sky Sports following her exit and offered some candid thoughts on her performance as she explained the difficulty of playing during the day. “To be honest I felt like I never really got into it. I think it was a combination of things. It’s like my first day match I think I’ve played in a year so that’s different,” she said.
Although she played during the day at the Australian Open, Raducanu continued: “Honestly, I think I need to practice training outside a bit more because it’s very different. And also like with lights, conditions, shadows it’s really hard to kind of see the ball I found towards the end.
“I think that when the tennis isn’t there you have to really try and fight and I think I did that in the second set so.”
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