Emma Raducanu suffered her third first-round tournament defeat inside two weeks after she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Qatar Open on Sunday. (More Tennis News)
Raducanu, who was given a second successive wildcard for the WTA's latest tournament, was beaten 6-3 7-5 by Alexandrova, who avenged her loss to the Briton at the Australian Open last month.
The world number 60 started strongly in both sets with early breaks of serve, but Alexandrova soon cancelled out Raducanu's advantage each time.
Alexandrova won the final five games of the first set to take the early advantage, winning 64% (14/22) of her first-serve points to put her opponent on the back foot.
Raducanu and Alexandrova traded breaks of serve in the second, but a decisive break in the Russian's favour with the game tied at 5-5 made the바카라 웹사이트difference as she saw out the win.바카라 웹사이트
"I was looking forward to this match because the last match we played was really close and really difficult,"바카라 웹사이트said Alexandrova.
"I was really upset after that match, so when I saw the draw, I thought maybe it was going to be my chance. I'm really happy with the win, especially after what happened at the Australian Open."
The result means that Alexandrova, rather than Raducanu, will now face world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the next round of the competition on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Back to the drawing board
Having finished the 2024 season strongly, Raducanu has failed to build on that momentum as she fell at the first hurdle in Qatar.바카라 웹사이트
She won just six of her 18 first-serve points, while only saving 37% (3/8) of the break points she faced, coming out second best against a confident Alexandrova.바카라 웹사이트
The Russian has now won her last five games following her triumph바카라 웹사이트at the Linz Open, and will be hoping to upset Sabalenka who kickstarts her 2025 campaign next week.바카라 웹사이트
