Emma Raducanu fell to a fourth consecutive defeat for the primary time in her profession as she used to be crushed in instantly units via Ekaterina Alexandrova within the first spherical of the Qatar Open.
The British quantity two let slip 3-1 leads in each units as Russian Alexandrova gained 6-3 7-5 on Sunday.
Former US Open champion Raducanu had won a wildcard access for the event in Doha, which is the primary WTA 1000 match of the yr.
Alexandrova will subsequent face best seed and global primary Aryna Sabalenka.
Raducana, ranked sixtieth on the planet, began brightly towards Alexandrova, who she beat within the first spherical of the Australian Open in January.
However Alexandrova, who gained a WTA Excursion name in Linz, Austria final week, used to be in a position to profit from Raducanu failing to protected a 2nd spoil of serve and sealed the outlet set via profitable 5 consecutive issues.
Alexandrova, 30, dipped somewhat within the early levels of the second one set, which allowed Raducana to guide as soon as once more, however the global quantity 26 claimed a an important spoil at 5-5 after which served out the fit.
Raducanu reached the 3rd spherical of the Australian Open final month. She climbed again into the arena’s best 60 final yr after lacking many of the 2023 season following surgical procedure on each wrists and her left ankle.
A heavy defeat via Iga Swiatek ended her Melbourne run and he or she then misplaced first spherical suits in Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
She is these days with out a trainer after Nick Cavaday stepped again from the position to “prioritise getting again to complete well being”.
Her mentor Jane O’Donoghue flew out to provide fortify in Doha.
