British trio make early exits in Spain

Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter hit the exits on Friday at the Madrid Masters, with the pair of British hopefuls fell to second-round losses.

Raducanu lost a thriller to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 while double Grand Slam and sixth seed Jasmine Paolini accounted for Boulter 6-1, 6-2 in barely an hour.

Raducanu was trialling yet another coach in the form of former ATP player Mark Petchey.

The British No. 2 came and went after sitting out a month of play since last competing in Miami.

Sonay Kartal ended British women’s singles participation as she completed a hat-trick of losses on the day, going down to  Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-1.

At the top of the women’s draw, top seed Aryna Sabalenka hammered Anna Blinkova 6-3 6-4 while 2024 Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen was stunned 6-4 6-4 defeat by Anastasia Potapova.

Spain’s Paula Badosa, ninth in the world, pulled out of her home event with a nagging back injury which has clouded her past several seasons.

Main photo:- Top seed Aryna Sabalenka winning in Madrid – by WTATennis.com

Bill Scott

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