Emma Raducanu’s injury comeback hit the buffers on Thursday in Auckland as the Brit fell 6-7 (5) 7-6 (3) 6-1 victim to second seed Elina Svitolina.
The brevity of Raducanu’s comeback from months of injury absence echoed that of fellow tennis ghost Naomi Osaka, who lost in the Brisbane second round this week after coming from her 2022 mental health and maternity leave.
Form US Open champion Raducanu appeared to run out of puff in the third set in a defeat which went for two and three-quarter hours in the Kiwi metropolis.
After blasting off with a 5-1 lead in the opening set which eventually deteriorated into a tiebreaker won by the Londoner, Raducanu was never again able to impose her game on her battle-hardened Ukrainian opponent even while leading 3-1 in the second-set decider.
Number 301 Raducanu faces a huge task to try and find some respectable form for the start of the Australian Open a week from Sunday.
Svitolina advanced with 52 winners including 11 aces.
