“Tired” Raducanu falls to Martic

Petra Martic of Croatia scored her biggest win over a Top 20  ranked player since 2019, knocking out Emma Raducanu of Great Britain  6-7,6-4,7-5 in a topsy turvy third round match in the BNP Paribas Open.

It was the eighth appearance in Indian Wells for Martic and her second trip to the last 16.

The Croat was a quarter finalist here in 2018, and fought back from a late break down to topple 19-year-old Raducanu.

The British teenager had served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but Martic raced through the last three games to claim victory.

Raducanu said after her loss that  she has been struggling with a stiff back for the last few days and “was pretty tired”.

But added she should be fit to play at the Miami Open from 21 March.

“I think it’s just part of not playing and having so much stop start and having five, six days to prepare for matches and then playing at that intensity,” she said.

“It was a tough one not being able to serve full out so I was having to work so hard just to hold. I’ve just got to get stronger.

“I’ve had it for the last few days, just a product of training hard and probably the last match was pretty intense too and it didn’t settle down.

“When you are crossing your fingers to hold serve every time, it’s tough. I couldn’t really drive up and I was kind of struggling to turn and reach. The margins were so small.

“I should be good for Miami, for sure.”