Indian Wells: Emma Raducanu out as Aliaksandra Sasnovich moves on to Simona Halep
- No dream third round meeting with idol Simona Halep for British No 1 as she loses to world No 100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich
- Teenager looked rusty on return to court with a number of unforced errors sealing second round defeat
US Open singles champion Emma Raducanu’s return to the court after making history in New York ended in defeat to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Indian Wells.
A rusty Raducanu will miss out on playing her idol Simona Halep in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open after losing 6-2, 6-4 to the Belarusian world No 100.
Raducanu had won the US Open as a qualifier and without dropping a set but she dropped the opening set in California on her return to action.
The No 17 seed, who had been given a bye in the first round of the “fifth grand slam”, started the match with a series of unforced errors and struggled on her serve throughout.
She found herself unable to wrest control from Sasnovich despite the backing of the California crowd. Even when Raducanu did show signs of a fight, her luck ran out such as when she had battled back from 0-40 down to see the ball hit the net and loop out.
The teenager managed to save one set point but Sasnovich won the set on her second set point, winning with another excellent lob as Raducanu failed to finish off a point with a volley.
