Emma Raducanu exited almost before she began on Monday as the Brit was dealt out of the WTA Qatar Open in a first-round loss to 30th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina 6-0, 7-6 (6).
2021 US Open winner Raducanu, whose career has taken a nosedive since that Grand Slam surprise in New York, was plagued by nearly 50 unforced errors as she went down to her Ukrainian opponent to end a so-so trip to the Gulf.
The No. 296 Brit, playing on a wild card, won a round last week in Abu Dhabi before sixth-ranked Ons Jabeur sent her packing in the second round; she will now return to London pondering her game.
Raducanu saved a pair of match points in the second set but the effort was too late in the disheartening defeat; she also fought off 10 of 15 break points against her serve.
“I was struggling with everything – serve, return, forehand, backhand,” she said.
“I felt like I never really got into it.
“It was combination of things (her first day match in a year after surgeries on wrists and a knee in 2023).
“I need to practise training outside a bit more. The lights, conditions, shadows… it is really hard to see the ball, I found towards the end.
“When my tennis isn’t there I have to try and at least fight and I did that in the second set.”
Raducanu said she has yet to get re-accustomed to the torrid pace of WTA Tour life after missing much of last season with injury.
Elsewhere on court, ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova pulled out with a back injury while Canadian – runner-up to Raducanu three years ago in the New York final, Leylah Fernandez, advanced over 12th seed Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 7-6 after more than two hours.
She now plays Spain’s Paula Badosa, who put out teenaged old qualifier Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a match concluded on Monday after being halted for rain the evening before due to rain.
