Emma Raducanu admitted to “struggling with everything” as she made an early exit from the Qatar Open today following a 6-0 7-6 (8/6) defeat to Anhelina Kalinina.
Raducanu’s return from wrist and ankle surgeries is still in its infancy, although the results since her return have not been great with three wins in four tournaments.
Read our other sports news stories here:
Villa and Spurs worried by United – Keane
Phillips: Manchester City stint ‘pushed me away’ from football
Coe leads tributes to Kiptum
A woeful first-set display in Doha set the tone for the defeat to Kalinina while she also wasted the chance to take it to a third when serving at 6-5 in the tie-break.
“I was struggling with everything – serve, return, forehand, backhand,” former US Open champion Raducanu told Sky Sports.
“I felt like I never really got into it.”
Asked why she had performed so poorly, especially early on, she added: “It was combination of things.
“It was my first day match I have played in a year. That is different.
“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.”
Having been off the WTA Tour for most of 2023, the 21-year-old admitted she was finding it hard to regain the relentlessness required to compete week in, week out.
“It is hard for me to get used to the tour schedule. It is one tournament then another straight away,” she said.
“I need to schedule my tournaments a bit better and try to get more matches under my belt.”
