Emma Raducanu fell short of a dream **** le on home soil after she was defeated 6-0, 7-6 (6) by Croatian lucky loser Donna Vekic at the HSBC Championships in London.
The British No 1 was swiftly beaten in the first set but saved three championship points in the second on the way to a tiebreak, where she saved another and came agonisingly close to taking it to a deciding set.
Rain earlier in the tournament resulted in Raducanu having to power through a two-match day on Saturday, beating Kamilla Rakhimova then American Iva Jovic to reach the first grass-court and third tour-level final of her career.
It meant the Briton had spent two hours and 19 minutes more on court the previous day than her opponent – who played just one match, a swift one-hour, six-minute victory over British No 3 Katie Boulter.
Raducanu was looking for her first trophy since her stunning win as a qualifier at the 2021 US Open, and brought up two set points in the 10th game.
The British No 1 was swiftly beaten in the first set but saved three championship points in the second on the way to a tiebreak, where she saved another and came agonisingly close to taking it to a deciding set.
Rain earlier in the tournament resulted in Raducanu having to power through a two-match day on Saturday, beating Kamilla Rakhimova then American Iva Jovic to reach the first grass-court and third tour-level final of her career.
It meant the Briton had spent two hours and 19 minutes more on court the previous day than her opponent – who played just one match, a swift one-hour, six-minute victory over British No 3 Katie Boulter.
Raducanu was looking for her first trophy since her stunning win as a qualifier at the 2021 US Open, and brought up two set points in the 10th game.
2 days ago
