Emma Raducanu loses three-hour epic in first round of Singapore Open
Fell short in a gruelling three-hour marathon and was eliminated in the opening round of the Singapore Open.
Number two suffered a 5-7 7-5 7-5 defeat to Spain's Cristina Bucsa in a match marked by 17 breaks of serve.
Raducanu was competing in her first match since separating from coach Nick Cavaday, who previously stepped back last week due to his health problems.
Accompanying the 22-year-old in the stands were her mother, Renee, and her new fitness coach, Yutaka Nakamura.
But Raducanu was struggling to find her footing as exhaustion began to set in towards the end of a gruelling contest.
Saved two crucial game points in the first set with a pair of aces.
Bucsa, ranked 101 in the world, served to start the set, but was pegged back by a well-hit forehand winner from Raducanu.
Raducanu, seventeenth in the seeding, won a self-assured 6-0 in the first set, securing it with an ace, before earning her initial set point with another powerful forehand struck with a club.
She seized an early disadvantage reversal in the second set to 5-5, yet Bucsa levelled the match with another powerful strike, having previously showcased these skills that greatly assisted her claim of the Olympic bronze medal in doubles just last year.
A fidgety anxiety crept in from Raducanu's side, with seven troubled breaks featuring double faults.
Bucsa served at 6-5 in the match, and despite Raducanu saving two match points, the 27-year-old from Moldova converted her third to win the match in three hours and two minutes.
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