Emma Raducanu was crushed yesterday by Maria Lourdes Carle, losing 6-2, 6-2, in the opening round of the Madrid Open.
Having impressed in both the Stuttgart Open and the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers to begin the clay court season off well, there was a quiet expectation that the 21-year-old might be able to enjoy a solid run in the Masters 1000 event.
However, she simply failed to turn up, and whilst she sought to offer her reasons for that, it is hard to excuse such a poor showing.
Sky Sports pundit’s brutal Emma Raducanu assessment
Chatting live on Sky Sports Tennis, pundit Colin Fleming was left somewhat stunned by the disappointing performance he had watched.
After all, following that aforementioned strong start to the clay court season, Raducanu fell flat against Carlé and she was well beaten.
The former world number 17 doubles player was rather cutthroat in his post-match assessment of the match, but said what many were likely thinking.
He noted: ‘A little bit shocked to be honest. The second set in particular, I just thought the body language from Emma was hard to understand.
‘Even the break points at 4-1, it wasn’t impossible to come back with the skillsets of the two players, but there wasn’t an ounce of body language that said ‘I believe I can come back or want to come back’.
‘It was inevitable from there. Very strange! I know she’s spoken about being tired and things, but on the match court, you go and give it everything you’ve got and if you’re not fit enough to play, you don’t play.
‘I don’t think Emma gave it her all. She didn’t compete, which was tough to watch. I have to say.’
Emma Raducanu suffers crushing first-round Madrid Open exit
Fleming’s claims are all pretty much backed up by the statistics, which paint a depressing picture of Raducanu’s struggles in Madrid.
After all, she was broken with frightening ease and regularity by her Argentine opponent, likely aided by the fact that she won just 46.2% on her first serve and a further 14.3% on her second serve.
However, the crucial figure was the break points, of which Carle converted an astounding 85.7% to Raducanu’s 22.2%.
Break points won is the easiest way to measure how and why a player won any match, and on this occasion it was abundantly clear that, whilst the Great British tennis star may have had the opportunities to claw her way back into the game, she lacked that cutting edge.
Her opponent did not, and was ruthless when the chances came.
That was the difference yesterday in what was a desperately disappointing defeat for Raducanu.
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