Raducanu heads back to drawing board after Indian Wells defeat

INDIAN WELLS: US Open champion Emma Raducanu said she was disappointed but not discouraged after crashing out of Indian Wells on Friday in her first match since stunning the tennis world at Flushing Meadows last month. After dropping the first set, the 18-year-old squandered a 4-2 lead against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second before eventually falling 6-2 6-4.

The British sensation said the difference in experience between the players was the deciding factor in her inability to force a deciding set. “She’s been on Tour, probably been 4-2 down like hundreds of times,” she said. “It’s my third WTA tournament this year. It will come in time. I’ve just got to not rush it, keep going and get my head back to the drawing board.”

Raducanu, who parted ways with coach and former Davis Cup player Andrew Richardson after her triumph in New York, said she would review the match on Saturday. “From there, I’ll be able to plan,” she said.

Despite the loss, she said she will hold her head high and try to learn as much as she can from it. “There’s going to be disappointment after any loss,” she said.

“I didn’t go in there putting any pressure on myself because in my mind, I’m so inexperienced that I’m taking it all in.”

Young Canadian Leylah Fernandez, a surprise runner-up at the last US Open, beat France’s Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-3. Fernandez will play the next round against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 13th. In other women’s matches, Halep routed Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 and second-seeded Iga Swiatek, of Poland, crushed Petra Martic 6-1, 6-3. In the men’s draw, Andy Murray breezed past France’s Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2. The 34-year-old will meet 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who also shone at the last US Open.