The inevitability of defeat appeared to take the wind out of Emma Raducanu’s sails long before Jessica Pegula inflicted the finishing blows to what was a brutal defeat at the China Open, but the British No 1 needs to find the silver linings in this latest near miss.
For a second week in a row, Raducanu failed to convert three match points in a high-quality second set tie-break before collapsing in alarming fashion in the decisive set to lose 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-0.
This was almost the same script as her match against Barbora Krejcikova in Seoul last week, as she missed out on three match points before surrendering in disappointing fashion in the third set and it is a pattern that needs to be halted quickly.
As is often the case with a Raducanu match, there are several layers that need to be unpicked… with positive and some negative takeaways fused in a frustrating package.
Let’s start with the positives and there were so many in a performance that may have been one of Raducanu’s best for the first two sets.
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The baseline exchanges she shared with Pegula were laced with quality, as the pair traded blows in extended baseline rallies that confirmed the Brit is playing at a level to compete with top 10 rivals.
Raducanu came out on top in more than her fair share of the lengthy exchanges and the biggest improvement in her game was her punchy serve.
He Spanish coach Francisco Roig has clearly been working on her service motion and it appeared that she was also experimenting with racket tensions, as she changed rackets for serving and returning games in the second set.
Her eagerness to attack Pegula’s second serve was in evident on the first of her match points, as she crunched a backhand that needed a stunning shot from Pegula to keep her in the match.
In truth, Raducanu could not have done too much more in a top quality tie-break, but she will need to reflect on what came after those match points slipped away and the third set got underway.
As was the case in the Krejcikova match, Raducanu’s energy levels dropped and after losing the pace and potency on her serve, a rock solid Pegula took advantage to run away with the third set and seal her place in the last-16 in Beijing.
Raducanu looked a little shell-shocked as she left the court, but the 22-year-old should appreciate that the last couple of defeats on her record are, in fact, steps forward in her story alongside coach Roig.
The 2021 US Open champion has been blasted off court by some top 10 players in recent months, but she had her chances to beat both Krejcikova and Pegula and she should head to Wuhan for next week’s WTA 1000 event with an upbeat mindset.
There is no doubt that the pain of this defeat will leave her a little dazed, but she has to believe the steps she has made on her serve and with her ball striking from the back of the court will soon turn these near misses into victories.
Raducanu has a stated aim of finishing inside the top 32 of the WTA Rankings heading into the first Grand Slam of 2026 at the Australian Open in January.
Much of her performance against Pegula suggested she is playing tennis at a level that could see her back in the top 10 of the rankings at some point next year, but she needs to convert positive performances into wins to make that a reality.
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