Emma Raducanu got off to a really promising start against world No. 25 Ekaterina Alexandrova but then her level dropped and she ended up suffering a 3-6 5-7 defeat.
The Briton, who received a wildcard for the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha, opened an early 3-1 lead and had three break points in the fifth game to go up by a double break.
But after failing to open a double-break lead, the 2021 US Open winner lost her serve in the sixth and eighth games as the Russian finished the first set on a five-game winning run to overturn the deficit and take the opener.
After winning the first set, Alexandrova also claimed a break in the first game of the second set but Raducanu responded with back-to-back breaks to go 3-1 up.
Once again, the Briton failed to hold to her lead as the world No. 25 took her serve in the fifth and 11th games to go 6-5 up before serving out for the match in the 12th game.
For Raducanu, this was her fourth consecutive loss.
On the other side, Alexandrova plays against No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the Doha second round.
Raducanu served much better this time but still lost
In her first match of the year, the 22-year-old served a stunning 15 double faults against Alexandrova in the Australian Open first round but still won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (2).
Today, the former world No. 10 minimized her errors on serve as she had five aces and just one double fault.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what I changed in my serve today. I think it had a mind of its own. I’ll be sure to reflect, look at that and come back to you,” Raducanu told reporters after the Melbourne match.
“The amount of double faults is uncomfortable, for sure.
“But it is something I had to accept. I’m working on my serve and part of it came with first-round nerves.”
Tennis World USA