Emma Raducanu suffered a first round defeat at the Dubai Tennis Championships as her struggles continued.
Raducanu reached her first final since winning the US Open two weeks ago in Cluj-Napoca, but she has not won a match since then.
The Briton has been struggling with illness since then, which forced Raducanu to retire at the Qatar Open.
Despite having a week to recover from this, Raducanu took a medical timeout once again in her first round exit at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
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Just hours before her first round match at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Raducanu had a change of opponent following Elisabetta Cocciaretto’s withdrawal.
This was generally seen as a positive thing for Raducanu, who would play lucky loser Antonia Ruzic, who had lost her last five matches, instead.
Despite being ranked 42 places higher than her opponent, Raducanu was beaten by Ruzic, 6-1 5-7 6-2.
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After heavily losing the first set, Raducanu asked for a doctor on court, who gave her some medication to take.
As the medication appeared to kick in, Raducanu fought back from 5-3 down in the second set to win the next six consecutive games to find herself 2-0 up in the decider.
However, Raducanu quickly faded in the third set, as Ruzic then went on to win six games in a row herself.
With questions over what was bothering Raducanu, her management have now told The Telegraph that she had mainly recovered from the chest infection she picked up in Romania, but she was still impacted by ‘coughing and discomfort in her chest during the early stages of this match’.
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Although it has been a disappointing Middle Eastern swing for Raducanu, she has only lost 55 ranking points and she currently remains as the world number 25 in the live WTA rankings.
Raducanu now has two weeks away from the match court, before she returns to competition for the sunshine double of Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
Indian Wells is another opportunity for Raducanu to gain points, as she lost in the first round of the tournament last year.
However, Raducanu will come under pressure to defend ranking points at the Miami Open, as she reached the quarterfinals last year.
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Raducanu will be defending 215 ranking points in Miami, which is the most number of points she has from one tournament over the past 12 months.
Before she returns to Florida, Raducanu will compete in Indian Wells, where the tournament begins on March 4.
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