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Emma Raducanu came up short in a three-hour marathon to crash out in the first round of the Singapore Open.
The British number two lost 5-7 7-5 7-5 to Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in a match featuring 17 breaks of serve.
Raducanu was playing in her first match since splitting with coach Nick Cavaday, who stepped down last week due to health issues.
Instead, the 22-year-old had her mother Renee for company in the stands, as well as new fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura.
But Raducanu still flagged as the finish line approached at the end of a brutal encounter.
The former US Open champion, who reached the third round at last week’s Australian Open, saved two break points in the first game with a pair of aces.
Bucsa, the world number 101, served for the first set but was reeled back in by a whipped Raducanu forehand winner.
Raducanu, seeded seventh, sealed a confident hold to love with an ace and then took her first set point with another clubbing forehand.
She retrieved an early break in the second set for 5-5 but Bucsa, showcasing some of the volleying which helped her win an Olympic bronze medal in doubles last year, struck again to level the match.
A jittery deciding set featured seven breaks as double faults began to creep in at Raducanu’s end.
Bucsa served for the match at 6-5 and although Raducanu saved two match points, the Moldovan-born 27-year-old converted her third to seal the win in three hours and two minutes.
