‘Exhausted’ Emma Raducanu thrashed by qualifier María Carlé at Madrid Open

The great challenge of professional tennis is not just performing at a high level but doing so week after week, regardless of the conditions, for a sustained period of time.“It was a tough match because she played very well I thought,” said Raducanu. “She’s a very experienced clay-courter and she has a lot more knowledge and experience on the surface. Credit to her, she played a great match and I definitely didn’t, so that’s how it is.”

Raducanu cited fatigue as one of the reasons behind her listless performance, after just two and a half weeks of competition.

“The last few weeks have been a lot. Starting from the Billie Jean King Cup, I haven’t stopped. It’s just been back-to-back and I was very happy being able to help carry the team in the BJK Cup, then straight to Stuttgart with no rest, then straight here and trying to adapt to the conditions which are very different because it’s outdoors and I was playing indoors for the last month. Many factors have made it very difficult to fully compete today but overall I’ve been playing pretty well.”