Emma Raducanu out of French Open after second-round defeat

Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the French Open in the second round, her first campaign in Paris ended after a 3-6 6-1 6-1 loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The reigning US Open champion initially looked in control of the match, but she faded in the second set and was unable to recover as her opponent increased the quality of play.

Sasnovich will now face Angelique Kerber in the third round at Roland Garros.

The pair had only met once before, in Indian Wells last year, where Sasnovich took a convincing victory. It looked early on to be a different story, with Raducanu breaking her opponent in game five and then securing the set with a strong forehand winner. Raducanu demonstrated her backhand strength and used it to punish the Belarusian on the way to victory.

Come the second set, and it was a different story. Sasnovich hit more winners, taking control of the baseline, while Raducanu began to fade. The Belarusian won an incredible 89% of points on her first serve, and delivered 19 winners to Raducanu’s four. Sasnovich swiftly opened up a 3-0 lead, benefitting from a pair of double faults by her opponent, and soon took the set.

I’ve still got quite a long way to go on this surface, but overall, I would say I definitely had a good first experience on the clay

– Emma Raducanu

It was a tense affair to begin – Raducanu netted a backhand, but then saved a break point for 1-1. In the third game of the deciding set, Raducanu was unable to take any of the five break points in the third game, and this was really her last opportunity to shift the momentum in her favour and get back into the match. Her physical levels were clearly dropping, and the Belarusian player eventually took the match, delivering winning shots to which the British player simply couldn’t respond.

After her defeat, Raducanu said: “I think before I would let the losses kind of affect me more so than I am right now. Now I just look at everything as a lesson, and I know exactly where I went wrong, where I can improve, where other people are better than me.

“I’m quite happy with the progress that I’m making. I do feel like I’m playing some pretty good tennis and on the practice court I’m definitely working. Certain things I’m working on the practice court that are paying off, they don’t show immediately. There is a little time lag between when they will actually produce results on a live situation. Yeah, I’m definitely getting there.

“I think that I definitely got stronger as the clay season went on,” Raducanu said. “It just takes a lot more to win the point on this surface, and you hit a ball flat, doesn’t really do that much. I definitely learnt when to use the shape [top spin]. I’ve still got quite a long way to go on this surface, but overall, I would say I definitely had a good first experience on the clay.”

Raducanu’s exit means there are no longer any British women left in the singles draw, after both Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lost in the first round.