Emma Raducanu crashed out of the Miami Open in the first round after losing 3-6 6-3 2-6 to Canada’s Bianca Andreescu.
Andreescu may be 41 places above Raducanu in the WTA rankings, but it’s still a disappointing result for the British No. 1 after running to the last 16 at Indian Wells last week in which she defeated three players ranked higher than her.
Raducanu was ranked as high as world No. 10 last year, but is all the way down at world No. 72, and she had been trying to secure crucial ranking points in Miami, a WTA 1000 event and the second tournament of the Sunshine Double. .
The 20-year-old shocked the tennis world in 2021 by winning the the US open as a qualifier, but has yet to secure her second title on the WTA Tour amid form and injury issues.
She showed encouraging signs in the early stages of 2023 after teaming up with Andy Murray’s former trainer Jez Green and coach Sebastian Sachs, but her early Miami Open exit will be a mental blow after a strong run at Indian Wells.
Raducanu only lost at Indian Wells after getting a tough match against the dominant world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and she had defeated both Magda Linette and 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in California.
The young Briton is now turning her attention to the clay-court season, which starts in April and ends with the French Open – the second Grand Slam of 2023 – starting at the end of May.
Many pundits have predicted that Raducanu will consistently become a top player in women’s tennis and just yesterday Chris Evert said a return to the top-10 was “absolutely” at stake.
Monica Puig, speaking last month, claimed that Raducanu will win more major titles and it’s ‘only a matter of time’.
In her most recent Grand Slam appearance, Raducanu suffered a narrow second-round defeat to Coco Gauffwhich is currently ranked number 6 in the world.
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