Emma Raducanu suffers defeat in first match of 2022 at Sydney Classic

The British No 1 was thumped 6-0 6-1 in her first match of the year as she took on Elena Rybakina in Sydney.

Raducanu suffered a set back in recent weeks as she tested positive for Covid-19 and was unable to compete in last week’s Melbourne Summer Set.

This meant her first competitive match under new head coach Torben Beltz had to be put on hold until today - though it didn’t end as she had hoped.

Raducanu took on the Kazakhstani at the Ken Rosewall Arena and initially went 40-15 up in her opening service game before being pinned back to deuce.

The 19-year-old couldn’t deal with the power of Rybakina and it took only 55 minutes for her to fall to defeat in Sydney.

Raducanu is seeded 17th ahead of next week’s Australian Open, with the draw set for Thursday before the tournament begins four days later.

What did Raducanu say after the loss?

Following her defeat in Sydney, Raducanu said: “To play my first match against her was obviously a tough challenge.

“It just showed me where I’m at in this stage of coming back, recovering. I have had a tough few weeks, but I’m feeling pretty positive going forward.

“I felt like I could have done some things better in the match and I wanted to try and fix it straight away and just leave with a better feeling about it.”