24th-seed Marta Kostyuk dumped British number two Emma Raducanu out of the Madrid Open in the second round following a 6-4 2-6 6-2 defeat on Friday.
Raducanu was making her return from a month-long absence from competitive matches and looked set to mount a comeback against Ukraine’s Kostyuk in the second set.
Competing in just her 18th competitive clay-court match on Friday, the former US Open champion had to claw her way back from a break down for 3-3 in the first set before immediately dropping her serve again after two double faults for Kostyuk to take the opener.
Raducanu, who continues to work with coach Mark Petchey on an informal basis, improved in the second set, winning four games in a row on her way to forcing a deciding set.
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But a poor opening game from the Briton set Kostyuk up to race to victory and booked her place in the third round, where she will meet Veronika Kudermetova.
Raducanu was unable to replicate her Miami run in March.
Raducanu took a “physical and mental” break after reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals last month and the opening round in Madrid on Wednesday was her first competitive match since.
It also marked a first win on the outdoor clay in almost three years.
Her defeat rounded off a disappointing day for the British women in the Spanish capital as Katie Boulter fell to sixth seed Jasmine Paolini while Sonay Kartal lost to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Ranked six in the world, Italian Paolini dropped just three games as she beat Boulter 6-1 6-2 within 61 minutes.
The 2024 French Open runner-up converted six of her seven break points, setting up a last-32 tie against Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
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Boulter, who earned the first WTA clay-court win of her career against Katerina Siniakova in the first round, won just 11 points out of 46 on serve and made 21 unforced errors.
World number 60 Kartal, who earned her first clay-court victory in the opening round in the Spanish capital, suffered a 6-3 6-1 defeat by 17th seed Svitolina.
The trio of losses means there are no Britons remaining at the WTA 1000 event.
Meanwhile, top seed Aryna Sabalenka comfortably beat Anna Blinkova 6-3 6-4 but eighth seed Zheng Qinwen struggled in a 6-4 6-4 defeat by Anastasia Potapova.
Spain’s Paula Badosa has withdrawn from the tournament with a back injury.
The world number nine had been due to take on Veronika Kudermetova in the second round.
