Emma Raducanu admitted she was “pleased” following her first match in more than two months despite suffering defeat to Ons Jabeur. The world No 76 was pipped to the post by the Tunisian 5-7 6-3 10-8 in their exhibition match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Friday, and Raducanu said she was just relieved to be there after last year’s “shocker”.
Raducanu was back in action on Friday as she took on Jabeur at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, a year after originally being set to make her debut in Abu Dhabi. The Brit was supposed to face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the women’s exhibition match last year but tested positive for Covid at the last minute, and coincidentally it was Jabeur who was drafted in as a last-minute replacement, going on to win.
The two-time Grand Slam champion was able to defend her crown as she came from behind to defeat Raducanu 5-7 6-3 10-8 in a match tiebreak, and the 2021 US Open champion has now joked that she was happy to make an appearance after last year’s nightmare. “I’m so glad this year I was able to make it out of the hotel room,” she laughed.
“Last year I had a bit of a shocker. Amazing to play here in front of all of you, this is Ons’ house so thank you for having me.” The 20-year-old also admitted that she was happy with her performance despite the loss, as she managed to come back from a break down twice in the opening set before taking it.
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