Emma Raducanu should be feeling alarmed after a disastrous defeat to Amanda Anisimova at Indian Wells.
Raducanu had a 2-1 head-to-head with Anisimova ahead of their round of 32 clash in California, where she has failed to extend that record.
In a match that lasted just 52 minutes, Anisimova thrashed her WTA rival Raducanu 6-1, 6-1 to reach the round of 16 at Indian Wells.
It is a result that Raducanu will be keen to forget as soon as possible, with two particularly worrying stats emerging from the loss.
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Emma Raducanu should be alarmed after heavy Amanda Anisimova loss
Firstly, British number one Raducanu hit just two winners in the entire match, with her American opponent hitting 21.
And secondly, the former Grand Slam champion finished the loss with just 27% of her first serves won, compared to Anisimova’s 86%.
The Briton will hopefully learn lessons from the defeat and indeed the manner of it, which comes as a surprise given her strong start at Indian Wells.
After receiving a bye in the first round, the 25th seed comfortably beat Anastasia Zakharova 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 22 minutes.
But shortly after, she has just suffered one of the worst defeats of her career, in what was a truly one-sided encounter.
Raducanu must do her best to recover as quickly as possible, while her opponent Anisimova now meets Victoria Mboko for a place in the quarterfinals.
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Of course, context is needed to put the defeat into perspective, with Anisimova having certainly been expected to win the match.
Despite holding a negative head-to-head record with Raducanu, she was playing on home soil, and is the sixth seed at Indian Wells.
Moreover, the two-time Grand Slam finalist is currently sixth in the WTA rankings, well ahead of her British counterpart in 24th.
| Emma Raducanu | Amanda Anisimova | |
| 0 | Aces | 2 |
| 3 | Double faults | 2 |
| 56.4% 22/39 | 1st serve | 60% 21/35 |
| 27.3% 6/22 | 1st serve points won | 85.7% 18/21 |
| 47.1% 8/17 | 2nd serve points won | 71.4% 10/14 |
| 7 | Break points faced | 0 |
| 28.6% 2/7 | Break points saved | 0% 0/0 |
| 7 | Service games played | 7 |
Meanwhile, Raducanu hired Mark Petchey for Indian Wells, continuing her constant chopping and changing of coaching staff.
Still, it will be a difficult loss to take for the 23-year-old, who won just 11 points in the first set.
The overall WTA match stats certainly aren’t good reading for Raducanu and her fans, who will be hoping that this is merely a minor setback.
| Emma Raducanu | Amanda Anisimova | |
| 14.3% 3/21 | 1st return points won | 72.7% 16/22 |
| 28.6% 4/14 | 2nd return points won | 52.9% 9/17 |
| 0% 0/0 | Break points converted | 71.4% 5/7 |
| 7 | Return games played | 7 |
She has definitely shown signs of promise in recent times, namely reaching a final in Romania last month.
But finding consistency has been tricky for Raducanu, who remarkably clinched her only WTA career title at the 2021 US Open.
The loss marks the end of the Indian Wells road for the Briton, who lost her doubles opener with Elena-Gabriela Ruse to specialists Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova.
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