Emma Raducanu was forced out of the Dubai Tennis Championships by lucky loser Antonia Ruzic as illness and illness continued to take a toll on the British number one.
Raducanu was scheduled to face Elisabetta Cocciaretto, but a thigh injury ruled out the Italian’s hopes, having played eight matches in the last eight days.
As a result, world No. 67 Ruzic, who lost in the first round of qualifying, was substituted just hours before taking the court.
Two days after losing in the Transylvania Open final, Raducanu withdrew from her first round match against Camila Osorio at the Qatar Open due to high blood pressure, losing 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
Britain’s number one had both a physiotherapist and a doctor on court after losing the first set 6-1 in 30 minutes, but looked much brighter after the medical intervention.
The former US Open champion had several chances to break Ruzic’s serve, but still appeared to have some limited movement.
Croatian No. 1 Ruzic entered the match on a five-game losing streak, but came close to winning 5-3 in the second game.
However, he was unable to close out the match and after Raducanu conceded the most important breakthrough on his eighth request, he won four games in a row and ended the 65-minute second set, which seemed on the verge of defeat.
Raducanu took a 2-0 lead heading into the final with three consecutive breaks, but Ruzic saw-sawed to regain control and won the next six games to take the set 6-2 and win in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The Briton will now aim to get his mojo back in time for the Sunshine Double, which begins in Indian Wells in the California desert – and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Tennis from March 4 to 15.
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Withdrawal threatens Dubai draw
Canada’s Victoria Mboko was the latest big-name player to withdraw from the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko earlier withdrew from the tournament, becoming the latest favorite to be ruled out due to injury, illness or schedule changes, leaving seven lucky losers to fill the depleted main draw spots.
The 19-year-old, who has broken into the world top 10 for the first time since reaching the Qatar Open final last week, withdrew with a problem in her right elbow and was replaced in the main draw by Croatia’s Petra Marcinko.
Dubai, one of the WTA 1000 tournaments and one of the largest after the four Grand Slams, has been hit by a spate of withdrawals, including top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka’s absence due to a minor hip problem.
Iga Swiatek, Karolina Muchova (both rescheduled), Maria Sakkari and Jen Chingwen (both sick) were also absent.
Choynski’s run in Qatar was halted by Mensik
Jan Choynski’s appearance at the Qatar Open has come to an end.
British qualifier Jan Choynski’s career at the Qatar Open came to an end after he lost to Jakub Mensik in the opening round of the main event.
Choynski, who advanced to the main draw by defeating Quentin Harris in a final-set tie-break, lost to the world No. 16 from the Czech Republic 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-4.
British No. 4 Choynski looked set for an upset when he took the first set in a tie-break, but dropped his first two service games in the second set and couldn’t recover until Mensik equalized.
Choynski, ranked 124th in the world, took a 2-0 lead in the decider after an early break against Mensik, but Mensik came back to tie the match, broke again and served out for a 5-4 lead.
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