Emma Raducanu‘s upwards momentum has been briefly curtailed as she lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
Raducanu lost 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in a battling performance but was unable to break her duck against top-10 players.
She has gone seven matches against top-10 stars without a win and hasn’t even managed a set in that time, but she was competitive against Swiatek.
The 21-year-old had beaten Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova in straight sets in the first two rounds to reach this stage.
Things were going well against Swiatek but losing the first-set tie-break was a pivotal moment and the Pole broke her in the first game of the second set before surging to victory.
Emma Raducanu lost in the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open against Iga Swiatek
Swiatek has won the last two editions of the Stuttgart Open and will meet Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals
Considering that she is still finding her feet after an injury-plagued 2023, reaching the quarter-finals here represents good progress from Raducanu.
She dropped as low as 303rd in the world rankings on the back of wrist and ankle operations and has often struggled to string more than a couple of wins together.
However, she has been in strong form recently, helping Britain beat France in the Billie Jean King Cup last week.
Swiatek will meet fourth seed Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals in Stuttgart.
The world No 1 is on a 10-match winning streak at this tournament, having won the last two editions.
‘It was a pretty intense match. I was happy that I was able to keep the intensity even though we played some tough games for like two hours,’ she said.
‘It wasn’t easy. I had a lot of break points which I didn’t convert so still I’m happy that I could finish it with a better score in the second set than in the first.
Raducanu performed well and the signs are promising that she’s returning to form
The British talent has been plagued by injury but is finding momentum again
Swiatek said Raducanu had put her through an ‘intense’ match and expressed hope that she could be among the sport’s best again
‘There are a lot of factors coming in if you want to stay consistently at the top but I hope [Raducanu] will be able to do it. For sure she has the game but it’s not easy.’
‘I hope she will be able to do it because for sure she has the game for it,’ she said.
Raducanu pushed Swiatek hard. This was the fourth-longest straight-sets win in the Pole’s career, showing how closesly contested the match was.
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