On Tuesday, in the Czech Republic, at Ostrava Open, British Emma Raducanu faced a defeat from Russian Daria Kasatkina in her first opening match.
A few days ago, Emma withdrew during her semi-final against Jelena Ostapenko in Korea Open due to a muscle injury. In this match, there was no sign of strapping.
Emma produced some good moments against her Russian opponent, but she could not win. Kasatkina, who ranked 11th in the world and is considered one of the best defenders, did too many errors in the 7-5, 6-4 win against British No 1, Emma.
Emma made a loose start in the game but recovered it by a 3-2 lead in the first set. She looked to be applying more pressure until Kasatkina broke the lead by 5-4. Emma responded well and made the lead to 5-6. This time, Kasatkina played spectacularly and clinched the set.
Kasatkina has been the most outspoken Russian player against the invasion of Ukraine.
Kasatkina made the second set also tough for Emma but made some mistakes. Emma ranked 67th in the world, snatched at several shots in a poor service game to drop serve at 2-2. Then, Kasatkina fought back with spectacular tennis skills and made the lead 6-4 for Emma. Kasatkina won the intense match against the British No 1 Emma.
While on the other hand, at the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia, Harriet Dart won the match against Spanish Nuria Parrizas-Diaz by 6-2, 6-4, which is good news for the British.
