Emma Raducanu suffered an injury scare ahead of the French Open as she went out of the Strasbourg Open, losing to American Danielle Collins from a set in front 4-6 6-1 6-3.
The 22-year-old left the court during the second set of her second-round clash for treatment on a back problem, though appeared to recover. Having won the first set, Raducanu was 5-0 down when she called a medical timeout before returning to the court 10 minutes later.
The defeat brings to an end a good run of form for the British No 2 on clay heading into the French Open, after three consecutive victories at the Italian Open last week and a comfortable win over Daria Kasatkina earlier this week.
Raducanu made just six unforced errors across the opening set, wrapping it up with a couple of aces, as just a single break of serve proved enough to nudge ahead in the contest on Court Patrice Dominguez.
Collins, though, recovered her composure well during the interval between sets and broke Raducanu twice early in the second set whilst holding her own to race into a 5-0 lead.
Raducanu was far less successful behind her first serve and the conviction in her strokes eluded her before she left the court for a medical timeout, appearing to struggle with her back.
Raducanu, who almost missed the year’s opening Grand Slam with back problems, returned to avoid the bagel before Collins forced a decider.
A tight third set then saw Collins strike for the first break to move 3-2 in front, yet the American failed to consolidate that break as Raducanu stuck in a battle of a sixth game, winning after multiple deuces to break straight back for 3-3.
A third consecutive break in the set then arrived, however, as Collins dominated to love on the Raducanu serve and this time, she held serve to move 5-3 ahead and one from victory, completing it with a further break of Raducanu.
Collins will now face the winner of the clash between Jessica Pegula and Anna Kalinskaya.
“To be good at anything, self-expression is really important. There aren’t many successful people that feel like they can’t be themselves,” Collins said courtside after.
“I’m a competitor at the end of the day, I’m not meek and mild, I’m not someone that is going through life quietly.
“I want to succeed, and I know what it takes to succeed. At this level, you have to compete. This is what competing is about, bringing the energy, showing positive emotion and sometimes negative emotion and being upset with yourself, and then trying to work through those moments.
“It can be hard in the world we live in because of the noise and criticism, but at the end of the day if you go out and try to be yourself and try to compete hard and do the best you can, good things will happen.”
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