Emma Raducanu suffers second-round exit in 2022 French Open

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The youngest player at 18 years of age to win a Grand Slam championship title since 2004 is already out of the 2022 French Open.

Teen sensation and world no. 12 ranked female tennis player Emma Raducanu lost at the hands of the unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in just three sets, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, and will miss another Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance since winning the last US Open tournament.

The British phenomenon was off to a rousing start in the opening set after dumping Sasnovich with her signature heavy backhands while serving the ball well.

Raducanu also garnered three aces in the match that caught Sasnovich in no man’s land several times each time she attempted to attack the net and pressure.

However, it was a complete turnaround of events in the last two sets as Sasnovich came roaring back with her much-improved baseline defense.

Sasnovich decided to play a more laid-back approach soon as the second set kicked off and was patient with her baseline volleys every time Raducanu unleashed her power bombs.

With Sasnovic returning her power strokes, Raducanu’s unforced errors began to pile up which led to her early frustrations.

The Belarusian then came storming back and was more aggressive in the net midway in the second set and shocked Raducanu with her variety of attacks.

Raducanu’s struggles continued in the last set and wasn’t able to recover after an error-plagued second set.

What’s more disappointing was that Raducanu only managed to win just two games over the last two sets and never caught the momentum she needed in hopes of a comeback.