Emma Raducanu suffers setback at Eastbourne ahead of Wimbledon
After a difficult year marred by poor form and back problems, Raducanu had hoped for a morale-boosting run at Eastbourne before Wimbledon starts on Monday.
But the British star slumped to a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) loss that leaves her short of match practice leading into the grass-court Grand Slam.
Raducanu missed last week's Berlin Open due to the back problem she has been nursing since before the French Open.
On Tuesday, the 22-year-old held back tears after rallying from a set down to defeat American Ann Li in the first round at Eastbourne, then admitted she had been dealing with "some really bad news."
World No. 38 Raducanu, who won the U.S. Open in 2021, is preparing for her fourth appearance at Wimbledon, where she has twice reached the fourth round.
But Joint knocked out two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur in the first round on Monday, and the 19-year-old made Raducanu her second high-profile victim of the week.
"I feel quite tired," Raducanu said. "Just going through some stuff, and I need to do my best to get my head in the game ahead of next week.
"Realistically, the turnaround (to Wimbledon) is pretty soon. I'm just going to start with a day off tomorrow and then hopefully I can get on the court on Friday."
Joint faces world No. 69 Anna Blinkova in the quarterfinals.
"Today was really tough, there were a lot of ups and downs and momentum switches. I was really glad I could tough it out in the end. The atmosphere was amazing," the world No. 51 said after the second grass-court win of her career.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova saved three match points to reach the quarterfinals with a gutsy 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) win against Britain's Jodie Burrage.
Twenty four hours after Harriet Dart spurned two match points against Krejcikova, the second-seeded Czech had to dig deep again to avoid defeat after falling behind 40-0 while trailing 6-5 in the deciding set.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko pulled out due a foot injury with the score 0-6, 6-2, 3-2 against Alexandra Eala, a 20-year-old qualifier from the Philippines.
In the men's event at Eastbourne, British world No. 170 Dan Evans enjoyed a surprise 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win against second seed Tommy Paul.
Defending champion Taylor Fritz's second-round clash with rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca was suspended due to bad light.
Fritz, the world No. 5, has won the Eastbourne title three times.
The American took the first set 6-3, but the 18-year-old Fonseca, ranked 57th, hit back to win the second 7-6 (7-5), forcing the match to be played to a conclusion on Thursday.
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