Raducanu makes Eastbourne exit

EASTBOURNE, United Kingdom (AFP) — Emma Raducanu suffered a setback ahead of Wimbledon as the former US Open champion crashed to a shock defeat against Australian teenager Maya Joint in the second round at Eastbourne on Wednesday.

After a difficult year marred by poor form and back problems, Raducanu had hoped for a morale-boosting run at Eastbourne before Wimbledon starts on Monday.

But the British star slumped to a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) loss that leaves her short of match practice leading into the grass-court Grand Slam.

Raducanu missed last week’s Berlin Open due to the back problem she has been nursing since before the French Open.

On Tuesday, the 22-year-old held back tears after recovering from a set down to defeat American Ann Li in the Eastbourne first round, then admitted she had been dealing with “some really bad news.”

World No. 38 Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021, is building towards her fourth Wimbledon appearance, where she has twice reached the fourth round.

But Joint had knocked out two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur in the first round on Monday and the 19-year-old made Raducanu her second high-profile victim of the week.

“I feel quite tired. Just going through some stuff and I need to do my best to get my head in the game ahead of next week,” Raducanu said.

“Realistically, the turnaround (to Wimbledon) is pretty soon. I’m just going to start with a day off tomorrow and then hopefully I can get on the court on Friday.”

Joint faces world No. 69 Anna Blinkova in the quarterfinals.

“Today was really tough, there were a lot of ups and downs and momentum switches. I was really glad I could tough it out in the end. The atmosphere was amazing,” the world No. 51 said after the second grass-court win of her career.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova saved three match points to reach the quarter-finals with a gutsy 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) against Britain’s Jodie Burrage.