Emma Raducanu appeared to be experimenting with her rackets during her defeat to Jessica Pegula at the China Open. The young Brit was on the verge of beating her American rival in straight sets, but wasted several match points before eventually losing a tiebreak. In the third set, she failed to win a single game as Pegula secured a 3-6 7-6 6-0 victory.
The result saw Raducanu fall to yet another elite opponent, which is becoming a common theme for the one-time US Open champion. She has not secured a win over a top-10 player since beating Emma Navarro in March, losing eight matches in a row since then. Raducanu was miles off the pace in the final set, with Pegula making it look easy under pressure.
Raducanu did play well for much of the contest, though, prevailing in more than her fair share of the lengthy exchanges. She also looked strong on serve, having worked on her technique with new coach Francisco Roig.
It also seemed like Raducanu was experimenting with the tension of her rackets, unusually changing them for serving and returning games in the second set.
Only time will tell if the 22-year-old will be able to overcome her struggles against top players in the coming months. She will be desperate to keep winning and pick up some crucial ranking points ahead of next year’s Australian Open.
Pegula was impressed with the way Raducanu approached their match, admitting that she was ‘lucky’ to emerge as the winner.
In her on-court interview, the American said: “That was a crazy match. That was really intense, but I got myself back into the tiebreak and just wanted keep pressure on.
“When she hit the double fault [leading 5-4], I knew I was still playing some good tennis. “It was right there, it was really, really close.
“To be honest, I think I got a little lucky on those two backhand winners [both down match point], but I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.”
Pegula will go up against Marta Kostyk in her next match at the China Open, with the winner potentially facing Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
Raducanu, meanwhile, will be left to lick her wounds after yet another painful defeat in which she showed signs of progress.
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