Emma Raducanu's Indian Wells run has come to an end at the hands of Aryna Sabalenka, who played in last year's final.
The British player needed a good showing to finally prove that she still 'has it.' It's been a few rough weeks in 2024, so much so that even she started to doubt herself.
She got it done in Indian Wells, as she won a few matches comfortably, and it was good to see her perform at this level. Even in this match, against one of the best players in the world, Raducanu looked like she belonged there.
She didn't look out of place, though she didn't quite look to be on Sabalenka's level in many moments, either. The Belarusian has had a disappointing Middle Eastern swing as well but found a good level at the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells.
This match opened pretty well for both players, as neither really struggled on the serve. Both cruised initially, but Raducanu found problems first. She got broken midway through, so the scoreboard showed 4 for Sabalenka and only 2 for her.
The Belarusian had a chance to close it out at 5-2, but she didn't, and Raducanu had a chance to break back at 5-3, but she also couldn't use her chances. The Brit actually had more break points in the set than Sabalenka had, but she couldn't use them, as the Belarusian served pretty well overall.
The second set was also pretty exciting because Raducanu wasn't giving up. Even when she was broken midway through, the Brit stepped up and broke back immediately to keep herself in the match.
She even had another break point to go up but couldn't convert it once again. It was a really strong play by the Brit, who was quite a bit more confident in her game in the second set.
Ultimately, she didn't hold on as she was broken at 5-5, with the Belarusian finishing the second set off at 7-5. It was a very strong effort from the Brit, but ultimately Sabalenka overpowered her, winning 6-3, 7-5.
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