Emma Raducanu mysteriously broke down in tears as she slipped to a second-round defeat against Karolina Muchova at the Dubai Championships. After going down an early break against her Czech opponent, Raducanu was visibly upset as she walked off court minutes into the contest and appeared to hide behind the umpire’s chair as she wiped tears away from her face. Both players had faced an insufferable wait to step out into the humid conditions on a rare rain-affected day in the Middle East, but with no microphones courtside – and with Raducanu appearing to move relatively freely – the source of her fleeting distress was unclear.
Muchova joined Raducanu behind the umpire’s chair to sportingly console the Briton, who dabbed her eyes with her towel as she recomposed herself before returning to the court, only to go down a double break. Following a slew of recent losses since her exit to Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open, Raducanu’s serve had shown notable improvement in her first-round win in Dubai over Greece’s Maria Sakkari, although any hope of building on that solitary victory looked in jeopardy after her shaky and melancholic start.
Muchova eventually prevailed 7-6, 6-4, closing out a nip-and-tuck contest as the clock neared midnight in Dubai, but Raducanu deserves considerable credit for the manner in which she battled back after looking visibly panicked. While she continues to count on her close friend and confidant Jane O’Donoghue, the 22-year-old had to navigate this unfortunate episode weeks after parting with her former coach Nick Cavaday, who stepped away earlier this month for health reasons.
She dug deep to win the next two games, breaking the Muchova serve and seized upon a momentum shift as she settled into a steadier rhythm. Her sudden resurgence was enough to throw Muchova, a former top-10 player whose career shares parallels with Raducanu’s in how it has been blighted by injury, off her stride. While the 2023 French Open finalist flew into a 4-0 lead, there was little variety to her shot-making, and she was found out by Raducanu’s blistering backhand. Indeed, in a snapshot of how there was little to separate the pair as the match wore on, Raducanu won 79 points to Muchova’s 78.
Muchova is a player who tends to move forward, but was not allowed that luxury as Raducanu pinned her behind the baseline and let out a gritty cry of “Come on!” after breaking the Czech’s serve to grab a foothold in the match at 4-2. Despite leaking three double faults, Raducanu’s backhand began looking increasingly dangerous and it became her main weapon to extract errors from the erratic Muchova, who rode her luck with a flurry of net chords after Raducanu forced an opening set tie-break.
The 22-year-old earned a mini-break with a gutsy net reaction and continued leaning into Muchova’s wobbly backhand to establish a 4-2 lead as the pair changed ends, but her level dipped after she smashed down an easy volley into the net. It felt like a crucial moment in a contest that ebbed and flowed. While Muchova was doing little to justify her 14th seeding, she produced a flawless first serve when it mattered to restore a two-game lead in the second set.
In a rinse and repeat of earlier, Raducanu valiantly saved five break points as she trailed 4-2 in the second set but Muchova kept turning the screw to grind out a victory. Another shock in the tennis world came in Qatar today where Novak Djokovic’s return from injury was brought to an abrupt end by Matteo Berrettini. The Serb, playing for the first time since withdrawing due to injury in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, was beaten in the second round 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 in what was his first ever defeat by the Italian.
Djokovic, who was the third seed and had a first-round bye, said that he was beaten fairly and squarely by Berrettini. “I was outplayed by just a better player today,” said the 24-time grand slam champion, who confirmed earlier this week that Andy Murray is to continue as his coach “indefinitely”. “I wasn’t at my desired level, and it could be that I’m still not moving the way I want to move, but I played without pain, so there is no excuse in that.
“I think he played a masterclass match to be honest, tactically, and served very well, so just a very deserved win from his side.”. The next-most galling thing about this narrow defeat for Raducanu is the fact that she would not have had to face Coco Gauff in the next round had she won through. Gauff, the world No 3, was shocked by fellow American Mccartney Kessler, who gave a marvellous performance to triumph 6-4, 7-5, but Raducanu would have fancied her chances. Kessler is ranked 53rd in the world.
We’re not sure quite what happened at the start of the match and why Raducanu became upset. Whether it was a health issue or something else only she – and the umpire – knows. 💔//... nothin' but 💕 Emma Raducanu!#DDFTennis | #Perletti pic.twitter.com/ewpQoUIvor. Whatever it was, it seemed to trouble her for the first few matches, which she lost by quite a margin, but then she somehow gathered herself demonstrated wonderful spirit to battle back, get into the match and force the tie-break.
