Britain’s Emma Raducanu misplaced within the first spherical of the Abu Dhabi Open as she went down in straight units to former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.
Raducanu, 22, was crushed 6-3 6-4 as she proved unable to make the most of her late wildcard entry to the principle draw.
She made a optimistic begin towards Czech Vondrousova and led 3-1 after an early break of serve, however she then surrendered the primary set by shedding 5 consecutive video games.
Vondrousova, who returned from a six-month lay-off in January following shoulder surgical procedure, saved 4 break factors early within the second set earlier than breaking for a 5-3 lead and the possibility to serve out the match.
Whereas Raducanu supplied a right away response to remain in rivalry by profitable the subsequent sport, the 2021 US Open champion’s hopes of creating a comeback had been quickly ended.
It was throughout when Vondrousova, the 2023 winner at Wimbledon, clinched her third match level.
Raducanu was promoted into the principle 28-player area in Abu Dhabi on the weekend, having initially been set to compete in qualifying for the primary time since her fairytale run in New York three and a half years in the past.
The world quantity 56 reached the third spherical of the Australian Open final month. She climbed again into the world’s high 60 final 12 months after lacking a lot of the 2023 season following surgical procedure on each wrists and her left ankle.
Vondrousova will play Kazakh fourth seed Yulia Putintseva subsequent.