Emma Raducanu knocked out of Slovenian Open by Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam
Emma Raducanu suffers early exit at the Round of 16 stage to German Qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam at the WTA Slovenian Open; The 19-year-old is attempting to rebuild her career after an injury-hit year, form issues, and first-round exit at the US Open last month
Thursday 15 September 2022 18:49, UK
British No 1 Emma Raducanu has suffered defeat to Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam in the Slovenian Open Round of 16, losing 5-7 6-0 3-6.
Raducanu was the top seed heading into the tournament but suffered a disappointing loss at the hands of qualifier and world No 213 Friedsam, who is through to the quarter-finals and will face 20-year-old Frenchwoman Diane Parry.
Though Raducanu did play with strapping to her left thigh, her movement appeared unrestricted in both the second and crucial third sets.
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The British No 1 began well and opened up a 5-3 lead in the first set over Friedsam, who is ranked down at 213, although she has been a top-50 player.
Raducanu then lost four games in a row and began to look uncomfortable in her movement.
She took a medical timeout at the end of the first set and had her left thigh heavily strapped but breezed through the second set only to come up short in the decider.
Raducanu, who is due to play in South Korea next week, saw her ranking plummet to 83 following her first-round US Open loss, but she should regain a few spots courtesy of Monday's win over Dayana Yastremska.
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Raducanu saw her US Open title defence fall at the first hurdle last month, following her first-round exit to veteran Frenchwoman Alize Cornet at Flushing Meadows, with the teenager currently looking to rebuild her career.
The 19-year-old has been without a permanent coach since splitting from Torben Beltz in April. She has been trialling Russian Dmitry Tursunov, and there have been some encouraging signs, but it's uncertain whether she will be making the arrangement long-term.
