‘Exhausted’ Raducanu crashes out to qualifier in first round in Madrid

EMMA RADUCANU revealed that she felt “exhausted” during a straightsets defeat to Argentinian qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open.

The Briton was crushed 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 26 minutes by an opponent ranked No.82 in the world, who had claimed her highest-profile win and maiden WTA 1000 victory.

Playing with strapping around the front of her left knee, Raducanu made a host of unforced errors and saw her serve broken six times. It was a disappointing performance from the 2021 US Open champion in light of the recent resurgence seen at the Billie

Jean King Cup and Stuttgart Open.

The 21-year-old’s progress in last week’s tournament in Germany was only halted in the quarter-finals by world No.1 Iga Swiatek, but that form deserted her against Carle.

“I would say the last few weeks have been a lot,” Raducanu said. “I think from the performance today it was very

clear that mentally and emotionally I was exhausted. I was trying to push through and I was just unable to push through today.”

Earlier this month Raducanu helped Great Britain defeat France to secure a place in Billie Jean King Cup finals, but team captain Anne Keothavong still offered a scathing verdict of her performance against Carle.

“I don’t think you can analyse the tennis because Emma the performer didn’t show up today,” Keothavong told Sky Sports. “And if any athlete doesn’t show up ready to play, you don’t really stand a chance. ”

British No.2 Harriet Dart followed Raducanu out of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Cristina Bucsa of Spain.