Raducanu loses in 2nd round at French Open
PARIS: US Open champion Emma Raducanu is out of the French Open in the second round.
Raducanu lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to end her Roland Garros tournament debut on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Raducanu broke Sasnovich in the fifth game of the opening set, hitting consecutive backhand winners followed by a forehand to clinch it.
Sasnovich couldn’t convert on three chances to break her opponent in the first set but took advantage with two breaks to start the second, when the 47th-ranked player also won 12 of 14 service points.
The 12th-seeded Raducanu failed to convert on five breakpoint chances at 1-1 in the third set as Sasnovich recorded her 16th career victory over a top-20 player.
Raducanu, who also lost to Sasnovich at Indian Wells last year in the Briton’s first match after winning the title at Flushing Meadows, had 17 winners and 33 unforced errors on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Sasnovich advanced to the third round at Roland Garros for the first time. This is her seventh appearance.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also reached the third round by beating Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 (3).
The most intriguing women’s matchup of the day pits 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu against Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic.
Former Grand Slam champions Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka advanced to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal prepared to keep their Roland Garros title ambitions on course.
Kerber, who won her first clay title in six years on the eve of the French Open, defeated French wildcard and 2020 junior champion Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) as she seeks the only Grand Slam missing from her collection.
The German 21st seed next plays Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the Belarusian who knocked out US Open champion Emma Raducanu 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
“I think the last week was really important for me to get the title,” former No 1 Kerber said of her Strasbourg triumph.
“I had a lot of confidence. It’s great to be back here and I hope I can still play a few more matches.
“When you achieve everything you want, you play for the love of the game. I just love the sport. Let’s see how long I can keep playing at a high level.”
Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open winner, beat 2014 Roland Garros semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 (7/3). She meets Swiss 23rd seed Jil Teichmann for a place in the fourth round.
Reigning champion Djokovic will come up against his longtime former coach when he plays Slovakia’s Alex Molcan in the second round later on Wednesday.
World No 1 Djokovic split from Marian Vajda after last year’s ATP Finals having worked with the Slovakian coach since he was a teenager in 2006. They took a break from each in other in 2017 but reunited the next year. Molcan and Vajda started working together earlier this month. Chasing a 14th French Open title, Nadal goes up against French wildcard Corentin Moutet in the evening session. Moutet knocked out 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in round one.