A sickly Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open ambitions ended in disappointing fashion, as she was knocked out by China’s Wang Yafan in the second round.
In a match of a far higher quality than their respective rankings — of 94 in Wang’s case and 296 for Raducanu — suggested, the Briton could not find a way through.
In the end, she was beset by sickness early in the third set and had to receive medical treatment. Remarkably, despite struggling between rallies, she remained competitive to the final point.
After a troubled time with her fitness on tour — eventually leading to triple surgery and an eight-month hiatus — there were question marks over whether Raducanu could ever attain her US Open title-winning brilliance again.
This latest setback means those questions remains unanswered but for much of the match the signs were very promising, even if it would be premature to talk of a Raducanu renaissance just four matches into her return.
The 21-year-old may be early into her comeback but, at times, it was a stunning display of resilience and determination before eventually losing 6-4 4-6 6-4.
She had been a set, 0-2 and 15-40 down when she rallied so brilliantly, converting what had been an occasionally one-dimensional performance in difficult, blustery conditions into an all-round display in which she bullied her way back into the match.
Raducanu’s lead-up to Melbourne had not been without its difficulties. She lost a tough, energy-sapping match in Auckland against Elina Svitolina, after which she pulled out of two exhibition matches complaining of soreness.
Any health concerns were not apparent during the opening two sets but Raducanu herself had talked after her opening-round match against Shelby Rogers that her biggest goal was “getting matches under my belt”.
On the evidence of the issues she had in the third set, which saw her wretch into a towel at one point, her assessment appears correct. And there were certainly elements of ring rustiness in the opening set in which Wang adapted better to the windy conditions to repeatedly put Raducanu on the back foot.
The Briton looked in danger of a rapid exit when she was immediately broken in set two and had two break points against her in her next service game.
An ace was required to force her back into the game and to help her hold serve and she followed that up in a marathon next game, in which she finally broke the Wang serve to level the set at 2-2.
But every subsequent chance that seemed to follow, Wang had a response. There were four break point chances across games six and eight. She finally grabbed the opportunity and served for the set at 5-3. That went begging but she broke Wang to win the set and force the decider.
"For much of the match the signs were very promising, even if it would be premature to talk of a Raducanu renaissance just four matches into her return"
With no previous signs of illness, Raducanu was suddenly beset by her issue having been broken early on.
Despite the clear problems, she stuck with Wang, at one point taking the Chinese player’s service game to 11 minutes, only to see her opponent hold for a 3-1 lead. Try as she might to force her way back into the contest, Wang did just enough to hold out for the victory.
There had been hopes of an all-British third round encounter between Katie Boulter and Raducanu, but Boulter proved a little too inconsistent in a 6-3 6-3 loss to another Chinese player, Zheng Qinwen, the tournament’s No12 seed.
After losing the opening set, Boulter got herself a break at 2-2, which she converted when her opponent double-faulted, undone by a shout from the crowd as she prepared to serve.
Any sense this might shift the momentum of the match were short-lived as Boulter was broken straight back, losing her serve with back-to-back double faults. From there, she did not win another game.
