Former British No 1 Annabel Croft has warned Emma Raducanu that her WTA Tour rivals will capitalise if she does not overcome a worrying pattern from her last two losses.
Raducanu lost 6-3, 6-7(9), 0-6 to world No 7 Jessica Pegula in the third round of the China Open after being up a set and a break and having three match points in the second set tiebreak.
The world No 32’s campaign at the WTA 250 event in Seoul ended in very similar circumstances as she fell 6-4, 6-7(10), 1-6 to Barbora Krejcikova in the second round.
Against Krejcikova, the Brit led by a set and 5-2 and was unable to convert a match point when serving for the match at 5-4, before letting a further two match points slip away in a tense tiebreak.
Speaking after Raducanu’s loss to Pegula at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing, Croft commented on the trend and also expressed concern that her compatriot had lost to a top 10 player again.
“You have to sit and talk about it because you don’t want patterns emerging like this and then players talking about it and sussing it out in the locker room,” the former world No 24 told Sky Sports.
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“Players do tend to have patterns that emerge, she’s not unique in that sense. I just think it’s unusual to have two matches like she’s had and to have three match points and not convert is very unfortunate.
“It’s such a shame because she’s played so well, but she’s let it get away from her far too quickly. And worryingly, it’s another loss against a top 10 player.”
After her victory against Raducanu, Pegula said: “That was a crazy match. It was a lot of fun.
“The tiebreak was intense, but I got myself back in and kept the pressure on. When she [Raducanu] hit the double fault, I knew I was still playing some good tennis and it was right there. I got a little lucky with my two backhand winners.
“Other than that, I tried to keep fighting for as long as I could. The crowd was awesome, this court has been good to me and I’m excited to play here. I’m happy I got through tonight and I’ll try to rest and recover.”
Raducanu will next compete at the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan.