Briton

Britain’s Emma Raducanu was overpowered by sixth seed Amanda Anisimova at Indian Wells, losing 6-1 6-1 in a third-round encounter lasting only 52 minutes.

In an ominous sign of the struggle to come, Raducanu was broken in the opening game.

It quickly became apparent the 25th seed had no answer to the American’s determined approach, and the first set ran away from her with just 11 points won.

The second immediately took on a similar pattern with Raducanu finding herself three games behind before managing to hold her serve.

Having enlisted Mark Petchey as a temporary coach after parting with Francisco Roig in January, Raducanu last week said she had been hoping to rediscover her “natural way of playing” in an attempt to build towards the form that saw her claim the 2021 US Open.

But there was to be no reprieve, as Anisimova impressively took a further three games to progress.

The performance marked a stark contrast to Raducanu’s second-round match, a comprehensive 6-1 6-3 victory over Russian Anastasia Zakharova.

Speaking on court afterwards, Anisimova said she had been “just trying to go out there and have fun” and “be fearless”.

British number one Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the Dubai Tennis Championships in the first round.

She recovered from a set and a break down against Antonia Ruzic to force a decider but the Croatian prevailed, winning 6-1 5-7 6-2.

Ruzic is ranked 67th in the world and was one of seven lucky losers from qualifying to fill the main draw after several players pulled out through injury, illness or a schedule change.

The Croatian said it was a ‘crazy turnaround,’ with little preparation time for what became her first career top 30 win.

“We were going to stay here for two-three days. It’s crazy because I got in on Monday. Playing against Emma, of course, is a tough match,” Ruzic explained.

“A lot of the girls were cancelling and a lot of them were not here to sign (as alternates). I was like ‘OK, I’m going to sign and let’s see what happens’.”

Raducanu’s initial opponent Elisabetta Cocciaretto was ruled out with a thigh problem, and Ruzic won the first set in 30 minutes having twice broken Raducanu.

The world number 25 then sought medical attention, just as she did last week at the Qatar Open when she had to retire from her first-round match.

Despite falling 5-3 down after being broken again in the second set, Raducanu fought back to claim two breaks and make it a set apiece.

The Briton won six consecutive games at the end of the second set and start of the third to go 2-0 up in the decider, but Ruzic won the next six to clinch victory.