Emma Raducanu stunned in opening round defeat in Dubai

Emma Raducanu exits the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the opening round following shock defeat to Antonia Ruzic.

The Brit will be left disappointed with her display in front of a favourable crowd in Dubai on Monday night.

Ranked 42 places below Raducanu, Ruzic was handed an unexpected reprieve as a “lucky loser” after Raducanu’s original opponent, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, was forced to withdraw with injury just hours before the match.

Ruzic flew out of the traps, keen to take full advantage of her place in the tournament. The Croatian made a great start to the match going three games up in no time before her opponent pulled one back to make it 3-1.

That would be the last game Raducanu would win in the first set however, as Ruzic who was beat by Rebecca Sramkova in the qualifiers, eased through the remaining games to claim the opening set.

After being forced to retire due to illness in the opening round in Doha in her last match, Raducanu looked off the pace in Dubai and was seen by doctors at the end of the first set, worrying the British fans in attendance.  

She was deemed fit to continue however, and the 23-year-old showed bravery to fight through a tight second set on Court 2.

Raducanu broke Ruzic’s serve for the first time late into the second set, and was rewarded for her hard work as she levelled the game up making it 1-1 after a 7-5 set.

It was down to the third and final round with the former US Open Champion making a strong start taking a 2-0 lead and putting the pressure on her opponent, who many may have thought was tiring.

This certainly wasn’t the case though, and Ruzic seemed to be the only person in the stadium who didn’t sense the momentum shifting towards Emma Raducanu. The Croatian dug in, clawing her way back to 2–2 before breaking serve to edge ahead 3–2.

Emma Raducanu appeared rattled by Ruzic’s resilience, as the underdog grew in belief and began producing some outstanding tennis, shots so good they even drew applause from what was largely a British crowd.

Ruzic went 4-2 up before breaking Raducanu’s serve again, completely draining any hope from the English star. The final game was a display of quality from Ruzic who hit a couple of incredible winners and she went on to win the final set 6-2.

Speaking on her win, Ruzic said: "The whole turn around was crazy, I got in as a lucky loser which was a strange feeling but also a good one and I wanted to make it count.

"Playing against Emma was always going to be a tough match so I was really happy with the tennis I played and the performance I put in.

"I lost my qualifier after being up 5-2 in the final set, so when it was that score today, I was getting flash backs but I stayed calm and this is something I'm proud of."