Things didn’t transpire in the manner Emma Raducanu would have envisaged as she crashed out of Indian Wells with her first round defeat at the BNP Paribas Open
After her pulsating showing at the US Open, exceptional displays which eventually saw her being crowned the winner of the marquee grand slam, much was expected from Emma Raducanu as she stepped out for her first round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
However, things failed to swing in her favour with her enduring a shock first round exit. The 18 year old lost 6-2, 6-4 to Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, a match which saw her far from her best as she slumped to a straight sets defeat without putting up a fight.
Emma Raducanu Unperturbed By Indian Wells Exit
Despite her laggard and languid showing at Indian Wells, Emma allayed any fears of being despondent over the defeat. The 18 year old talked about how she has a long race to run in her career with this just being her third WTA Open.
“For the bigger picture, I’ll be thanking this moment. So, that’s the lesson I think, that you can easily get sucked into being so focused on the result and getting disappointed.
“I mean, I’m 18 years old. I need to cut myself some slack.
“I’m still very, very new to the Tour. I think that experience just comes from playing week in, week out and experiencing all these different things,” she remarked after he exit, comments which allude towards how mature she is for her age.
Emma did manage to have a period of dominance in the second set as she led 4-2 at one stage but was eventually blown away by her opponent who pulled off four successive games to take home the tie.