Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the Madrid Open in the second round after a three-set loss to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
Despite showing signs of a comeback in the second set, Raducanu couldn’t sustain the momentum, eventually falling 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to the 24th seed.
The British number two was returning from a month-long break from competition following her run to the Miami Open quarter-finals.
Her exit capped a disappointing day for British women in Madrid, with Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal also suffering straight-set defeats. Boulter was overpowered by sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, who needed just over an hour to secure a 6-1, 6-2 win.
The Italian, ranked sixth in the world and a French Open runner-up in 2024, converted six of seven break points and will now face Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the last 32.
Boulter, who earned her first WTA clay-court win earlier in the tournament, struggled on serve and tallied 21 unforced errors. Kartal, ranked 60th in the world, also failed to build on her first-round victory, going down 6-3, 6-1 to 17th seed Elina Svitolina.
With all three players now eliminated, no British women remain in the WTA 1000 event.
Raducanu, playing just her 18th match on clay, showed flashes of form but lacked consistency. After fighting back to level the opening set at 3-3, she handed the advantage back with two double faults.
She responded well in the second set, stringing together four straight games to force a decider, but a shaky start to the third handed Kostyuk the edge.
Kostyuk moves on to face Veronika Kudermetova in the third round.
Elsewhere in the tournament, top seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised past Anna Blinkova 6-3, 6-4, while eighth seed Zheng Qinwen was upset by Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-4. Spain’s Paula Badosa withdrew due to a back injury, missing a scheduled clash with Kudermetova.
