CNN
—
Britain’s Emma Raducanu suffered one other agonizing defeat, after being knocked out within the first spherical of the Stuttgart Open on Tuesday.
Jelena Ostapenko took lower than an hour to thrash Raducanu 6-2, 6-1 in straight units on the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
“It’s by no means straightforward enjoying Emma,” the Latvian, the 2017 French Open champion, instructed reporters. “However I used to be so fearless out on court docket at the moment, and was centered from the primary to the final minute. Issues can proceed the identical method,” she added.
Ostapenko, ranked No. 22 on this planet, remained unbroken all through the match, and transformed all 5 of her break factors.
“I knew towards her the primary factor was to step within the court docket,” the 25-year-old Ostapenko stated. “After all, I missed some balls however I attempted to be aggressive on a regular basis when it was potential. Simply attempt to take the ball early, don’t give her many probabilities. And at last, I’m again on clay, my favourite floor.”
The 20-year-old Raducanu, who received the US Open in 2021, has been affected by accidents over the previous 18 months which have dampened her hopes of on-court success.
Raducanu suffered an ankle damage earlier than the Australian Open earlier this yr, whereas tonsillitis compelled her to withdraw from the Austin Open in February.
In the meantime, a recurring wrist damage, which hampered her final season, got here again to chew in the course of the Miami Open, the place she exited within the first spherical.
Former British tennis participant Laura Robson famous earlier this month that Raducanu had appeared “actually good” forward of the clay court docket season.
“Emma’s stage is there for certain,” Robson instructed Eurosport. “She hits the ball simply in addition to any of the highest gamers on tour.
“However it’s simply discovering the suitable stability on the coaching facet of issues, on the match court docket and match schedule facet of issues to make it work for the physique as a result of everyone seems to be completely different, everybody requires completely different quantity of matches as effectively.
“I feel if she’s simply in a position to get one other couple of constant weeks below her belt, then the assumption will come and also you begin to belief your physique a bit extra and also you begin to then not fear about some small accidents as a result of it’s simply a part of being a tennis participant,” added Robson, who’s a former Junior Wimbledon champion and an Olympic silver medalist.
Ostapenko will tackle world No. 4, Tunisian Ons Jabeur on Wednesday.
