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Raducanu and Fernandez bow out as Stephens suffers shock defeat at Madrid Open
Written by Sports Desk. Posted in WTA. | 26 April 2023 | 1011 Views
Tags: Tennis, Emma Raducanu, Leylah Fernandez, Madrid Open, Sloane Stephens

US Open finalists in 2021, neither Emma Raducanu nor Leylah Fernandez made it beyond the first round at the Madrid Open.

Raducanu, who is set to drop out of the WTA's top 100, withdrew from her first-round meeting with Viktoriya Tomova on Wednesday due to a hand injury.

The 20-year-old Briton has endured a difficult season, with her best performance coming at the Indian Wells Open, where she lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in the last 16.

Fellow youngster Fernandez has also struggled, and she came unstuck against world number 194 Mirra Andreeva, who progressed 6-3 6-4.

The big shock came as Jaqueline Cristian, ranked 525th in the singles rankings, defeated 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.

Having taken the first set, Stephens looked set to book her place in round two, only for Romanian Cristian to prevail 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Alize Cornet overcame world number 39 Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-3, while Camila Giorgi was forced to retire from her match with Mayar Sherif before the start of a deciding third set, and Amanda Anisimova was another top-50 casualty.

Rebeka Masarova, Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Marina Bassols Ribera and Irene Burillo Escorihuela carried the flag for Spain into the next round.

Eugenie Bouchard got the better of Dayana Yastremska as her return to top-level tennis continues.

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