SAD TENNIS UPDATE: Emma Raducanu misses huge rankings chance after…..
Emma Raducanu misses huge rankings chance after early Madrid Open exit.
The former US Open champion was able to win just four games in a lopsided 6-2, 6-2 loss to Maria Lourdes Carle, the world No 82 who was making her WTA 1000 main draw debut.
Raducanu had alluded to suffering from fatigue in the build-up to the tournament and that ultimately appeared to be the case in one of her most disappointing performances of 2024.
Carle was able to break the Raducanu serve six times with the Brit winning just 46% of points behind her first serve, and only 14% behind her second serve.
It wasn’t only on serve where she struggled, with the 21-year-old only able to win two of the nine break points she generated.
This will undoubtedly go down as a huge missed opportunity for Raducanu, especially considering the form she brought into the event.
And, considering she was originally meant to face former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova before her withdrawal, she has perhaps missed a huge chance to go on a fairly deep run.
Raducanu was undoubtedly a significant favourite against the comparatively inexperienced Carle and would have fancied her chances against the out-of-form 17th seed Veronika Kudermetova in round two.
Having not played in Madrid last year due to injury, the Brit has still gained ten ranking points, meaning she is currently set to leap 13 spots to 208th in the WTA Live Rankings.
However, victory on Wednesday would have seen her gain an extra 25 ranking points and make a significant jump back into the top 200 in the live rankings, sitting at world No 198 – with the potential to move even further.
A top-200 ranking could have improved Raducanu’s chances of an Italian Open or French Open wildcard, with no guarantees she will be able to play in the main draw of either event.