Emma Raducanu crashes out of Qatar Open in first-round defeat

Raducanu lost the opening set in just 22 minutes as she was beaten 6-0 7-6 by the 32nd-ranked Anhelina Kalinina

Emma Raducanu is out of the Qatar Open after a first-round defeat to Anhelina Kalinina in Doha.

Raducanu had received a wildcard in order to enter the WTA 1000 event but she was beaten 6-0 7-6 by the World No 32 Kalinina.

The 21-year-old made a fight of it after losing the opening set in just 22 minutes, saving match points to force the second-set tiebreak.

But Raducanu could not take her chances to force a decider, squandering a set point, as the Ukrainian Kalinina set up a meeting with Jelana Ostapenko in the second round.

The former US Open champion took a wildcard to enter the Qatar Open following her second-round defeat to Ons Jabeur in Abu Dhabi.

But defeat means Raducanu has now lost four of her seven matches following her return from eight months on the sidelines.

Raducanu had shown early after returning to the tour at the beginning of January, following her recovery from three operations last spring on both wrists and one ankle.

But this defeat will mark a step back following an impressive first-round win over Marie Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi last week.

The Qatar tournament, the first WTA 1000 event of the season, featured a strong field with both Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff playing for the first time since the Australian Open.