Emma Raducanu claimed that she played better in Singapore than she did at the Australian Open despite a shock first-round exit.
On Monday, the seventh-seeded Briton bowed out of the WTA 250 tournament in Singapore after 101st-ranked Cristina Bucsa edged her out in a tight three-set battle 5-7 7-5 7-5.
Before coming to the Asian country, Raducanu defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova in two sets in Melbourne before losing to world No. 2 Iga Swiatek.
“For me to be playing this kind of match, all I need is time on court and a match-competitive situation, which I got today,” she said after the Bucsa loss.
“I got it in abundance — over three hours of it — so, for me, it’s really valuable because every match I play, I feel like it’s a win.”
Raducanu: I played better than I did in Melbourne, that’s ironic
Against Swiatek, the 22-year-old picked up a brutal 1-6 0-6 defeat after delivering a very lackluster serving display.
In Singapore, the Briton’s serve was again a major issue since she blasted seven double faults and allowed a total of 17 break points and lost her serve nine times.
Cristina Bucsa© Singapore Tennis Open/Instagram – Fair Use
In the third set, Raducanu was also twice up by a break before losing the decider.
However, she felt that she played pretty well but that Bucsa played “unbelievable” and that’s why she lost.
“I think I’m in a pretty good place with everything and I think I actually played better than I did in Melbourne, so that is ironic,” the former world No. 10 explained.
“I think it was really small margins in it. I honestly thought I played pretty well today.
“She just played unbelievable and, credit to her, she kept it up the whole match.”
It should be noted that Raducanu split with coach Nick Cavaday late last week so it will be interesting to see if she makes any additions in the upcoming period.
Tennis World USA