Emma Raducan knocked out of Qatar Open by ecateurine Alexandrov in the third consecutive defeat of the first round | Tennis news
Emma Raducan suffered her third defeat of the tournament in the first round within two weeks, while she lost 6-3 7-5 from Ekaterina Alexandrova on Katar.
The 22-year-old Briton handed his second consecutive Wildcard for the latest WTA tournament in the Middle East, but he was handed a solid draw against the Russian world no.
Raducan defeated Alexander in the first round of Australian Open last month, but Russian eventually proved too strong here.
The Brit began strongly in both sets with early serving interruptions, but Alexandrova soon canceled the advantage of Raducanu each time.
Alexandrov won in the last five games of the first set and, after trading breaks in the second, a decisive holiday when it was tied to 5-5 made a decisive difference.
The result means that Alexander, not Raducan, will now face the world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday in the second round.
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