Emma Raducanu has crashed out of the Miami Open in the first round after a 3-6 6-3 2-6 defeat to Canada’s Bianca Andreescu.

Andreescu may be 41 places above Raducanu in the WTA rankings but it is nonetheless a disappointing result for the British No.1 after her run to the last 16 at Indian Wells last week in which she beat three players ranked higher than her.

Raducanu was ranked as high as world No.10 last year but is all the way down at world No.72 and she had been trying to secure crucial ranking points in Miami, which is a WTA 1000 event and the second tournament of the Sunshine Double.

The 20-year-old shocked the tennis world in 2021 by winning the the US Open as a qualifier but is still yet to secure her second title on the WTA Tour amid struggles with form and injury.

She was showing encouraging signs in the early stages of 2023 after teaming up with Andy Murray’s former trainer Jez Green and coach Sebastian Sachs but her early Miami Open exit will be a mental blow after a strong run at Indian Wells.

Raducanu only lost at Indian Wells after being handed a tough match against dominant world No.1 Iga Swiatek and she had beaten 20th-seed Magda Linette as well as 13th-seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in California.

The young Brit will now turn her attentions towards the clay-court season, which gets underway in April and concludes with the French Open – the second Grand Slam of 2023 – which commences at the end of May.

Many pundits have predicted Raducanu to become a top player in women’s tennis on a consistent basis and as recently as yesterday, Chris Evert said a top-10 return was ‘definitely’ on the cards.

Monica Puig, speaking last month, claimed that Raducanu will win more major titles and it is ‘only a matter of time’.

In her most recent Grand Slam performance, Raducanu suffered a narrow second-round defeat to Coco Gauff, who is currently ranked world No.6.

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