Emma Raducanu makes questionable statement after losing to world No 101 at Singapore Open
WATCH NOW: Sports round-up as Emma Raducanu crashes out of Singapore Open
Emma Raducanu has questionably insisted she played better at the Singapore Open than she did during the recent Australian Open, despite crashing out of the tournament in the first round.
The 22-year-old went into the clash hoping to secure a first title since her US Open triumph back in 2021.
But Raducanu ended up slumping to a shock defeat, with world No 101 Cristina Bucsa beating her 5-7 7-5 7-5.
The Briton recently made the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne, beating Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova before losing to Iga Swiatek.
Emma Raducanu has questionably insisted she played better at the Singapore Open than she did during the recent Australian Open, despite crashing out of the tournament in the first round
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Yet Raducanu has now insisted that, despite losing to Bucsa, she played better in Singapore than in the first Grand Slam of the year.
“For me to be playing this kind of match, all I need is time on court and a match-competitive situation, which I got today," she stated.
"I got it in abundance — over three hours of it — so, for me, it’s really valuable because every match I play, I feel like it’s a win."
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Raducanu then added: “I think I’m in a pretty good place with everything and I think I actually played better than I did in Melbourne, so that is ironic.
“I think it was really small margins in it. I honestly thought I played pretty well today.
“She just played unbelievable and, credit to her, she kept it up the whole match.”
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Raducanu could opt to play in the Abu Dhabi Open, which will run until February 3 to February 9.
Failing that, it's possible she'll grace the court again at the Qatar Open - which commences on February 10.
While the tennis star was beaten on Monday, Bucsa is now through to the second round of the competition.
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Cristina Bucsa knocks out Emma Raducanu in brutal Singapore clash 🇸🇬😰 pic.twitter.com/MvdS4tH7gw
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) January 27, 2025
The 27-year-old will face Mananchaya Sawangkaew next up after the Thai star overcame Sijia Wei on Monday.
And Bucsa was delighted after dumping out Raducanu, with the tennis star saying: "I don't play [three-hour matches] enough but it was really good.
"Emma played so well from the first ball until the end.
Emma Raducanu's mixed form continued with a defeat to the world No 101 at the Singapore OpenSKY"I'm so glad I kept going and kept believing in myself."
Bucsa also gave a shoutout to her father, who watched the match despite earlier taking part in a triathalon.
"It doesn't matter if I have a day off, I have good endurance and I'm really happy to have my dad [who did a triathalon] with me. Thank you for the support," she continued.
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