Emma Raducanu fightback in vain as British No1 falls to Eastbourne defeat against Maya Joint
Frustration: Emma Raducanu was beaten in the second round at Eastbourne (Getty Images for LTA)
Emma Raducanu's attempt at a miraculous recovery against Maya Joint fell just short as she exited the Eastbourne Open.
The British number one looked dead and buried in her second-round battle with the Australian, trailing 5-2 in the deciding set.
Advertisement
But she produced an inspired spell, breaking Joint three times when she was serving for the match, to set up a tiebreak.
Victory was in sight when she got a mini-break to lead 4-3 but Joint reeled off four successive points to claim a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (4) victory and move into the quarter-finals.
Raducanu revealed on Tuesday after her opening round win that she had received "some pretty bad news" and that perhaps affected her as she seemed subdued on court and looked increasingly leggy in the deciding set.
The 22-year-old will now head to London where she will prepare for her SW19 campaign, the scene of her 2021 breakthrough.
Advertisement
She lost the opening two games of the match but battled back to gain control, breaking twice to take the opening set 6-4.
Then things started to go wrong as Joint, ranked 51 in the world, found her groove and won 11 out of the next 14 games to put herself on the brink of victory.
But there is nothing as hard as getting over the finish line and Raducanu sensed nerves.
She broke on Joint's first attempt to serve it out and then, after holding her own delivery, did it again to level at 5-5.
A see-saw contest continued to give and Joint recomposed herself to break Raducanu and serve for the match for the third time at 6-5.
Advertisement
But Raducanu sent it into a tiebreak where she took the lead at 4-3 on serve. Joint steeled herself again, winning four consecutive points and sealing it with an ace.
She said: "Today was really tough, there was a lot of ups and downs, I was happy I was able to tough it out at the end.
"I am really glad I was able to win this match."
Jodie Burrage become the second Briton in two days to miss match points to oust former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Twenty four hours after Harriet Dart spurned victory, Burrage, the world number 161, was 40-0 up on the Czech's serve at 6-5 in the deciding set, but she could not get over the line, with Krejcikova winning the tiebreak.
In the men's draw, lucky loser Billy Harris continued to take advantage of his reprieve, winning 6-3 6-4 against Mattia Bellucci.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
31 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Wimbledon 2025: Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz give tennis two young superstars
LONDON — Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz are helping usher in a new era for tennis. With Wimbledon beginning Monday, the sport's most recent Grand Slam champions are Gauff, a 21-year-old American, and Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, who are both at No. 2 in the rankings and are both coming off French Open titles secured in riveting finals against the sport's No. 1 players.
Associated Press
38 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Wimbledon 2025: Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz give tennis two young superstars
LONDON (AP) — Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz are helping usher in a new era for tennis. With Wimbledon beginning Monday, the sport's most recent Grand Slam champions are Gauff, a 21-year-old American, and Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard, who are both at No. 2 in the rankings and are both coming off French Open titles secured in riveting finals against the sport's No. 1 players. They are young, they are charismatic as an be on the court and they are media-friendly off it. Gauff-Sabalenka, Alcaraz-Sinner give tennis rivalries as Wimbledon arrives Along with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and former No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the women's game, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the men's, Gauff and Alcaraz offer a bright future for a sport's fanbase that in recent years saw all-time greats Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal walk away and currently might be pondering how much longer Novak Djokovic will contend for the biggest prizes. 'Tennis is just in such a great, great place right now. We are so fortunate to have not only Coco, not only Carlos, but a deep bench of young stars that are just propelling the growth of our sport,' U.S. Open tournament director Stacey Allaster said. 'I've been around a long time, and when we have lost great, iconic champions in the past, there's generally been a little bit of a dip. We have had the exact opposite during this transition. ... I always like to say the champions of today are standing on the shoulders of the champions of the past. These champions have jumped off the shoulders of the past champions.' One key for a sport, especially an individual one, to gain attention and grow popularity is to have rivalries that demand buy-in. Alcaraz vs. Sinner clearly provides that, much in the way that Federer vs. Nadal or Nadal vs. Djokovic did. The Alcaraz vs. Sinner final at the French Open 'was insane' The five-set, 5 1/2-hour men's final at Roland-Garros was as full of momentum swings, terrific tennis and athleticism as anything those greats conjured. 'The level,' two-time reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz said, 'was insane.' The way he and Sinner, 23, are currently divvying up the biggest prizes — they've split the past six major trophies and eight of the past 11 — is certainly reminiscent of the Big Three's dominance, albeit over a much smaller sample size so far. 'Having these two guys fighting for big trophies — I think we have to be very happy about it in the sport of tennis,' said Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz's main coach. 'For them, for sure it's something that they raise their level every time that they go on the court. They know they have to play unbelievable tennis to beat the other guy, and it's something that is going to help for sure each player to raise the level even more.' Sabalenka apologized to Gauff about post-match comments in Paris It sure does seem as though Gauff vs. Sabalenka could provide that sort of dynamic and buzz, too. Consider that, like Alcaraz and Sinner, they occupy the top two spots in the rankings. And consider that, like those other two, both own multiple major titles. Gauff's two Slam triumphs came via three-set victories over Sabalenka in the finals. Plus, their latest meeting, at Roland-Garros less than a month ago, came with some added spice because of Sabalenka's post-match comments that were seen as less than fully gracious toward Gauff. It became such a thing that Sabalenka felt the need to issue a pair of apologies — one privately via writing to Gauff, and one publicly in an interview at her next tournament. Add that sort of off-court intrigue to the on-court interest, and if there are rematches at the All England Club a couple of weeks from now, no one who is invested in tennis will be displeased. 'There's incredible momentum and wind in our sales as we think about the sport, in total,' said Lew Sherr, who is about to leave his role as the CEO of the U.S. Tennis Association. 'We've had five consecutive years of participation growth ... and that certainly is being, in part, fueled by the great talent and inspiring players we have at the professional level, and also is feeding record attendance, record interest, record viewership. Those things go hand in hand. We have not missed a beat.' ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: More AP tennis:
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly signs long-term contract
LONDON — Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly has signed a new long-term contract after making his first team debut last season. The 18-year-old academy graduate established himself as one of the brightest prospects in the Premier League last term and became an England international. Arsenal did not give the length of the deal.
