(Football news) After facing Svitolina for more over two hours, the former British number one lost 7-6[5] 6-7[3] 1-6. This was only her second match in eight months.

After missing out on action since April due to wrist and ankle problems, Raducanu won a headline matchup with Svitolina by defeating Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the opening round of her comeback bout. She also came out on fire against Svitolina.

Svitolina refused to give up and astonishingly battled her way back to 5-5 in the opening set against the 21-year-old, who stormed into a 5-1 lead with a double break thanks to her clean hitting and excellent court coverage.

Raducanu didn’t let the little slip-up get to her because she won the tiebreaker and took the first set 1-0. In the second set, the two exchanged breaks early on until Svitolina held for a 3-1 lead.

The Ukrainian’s happiness was short lived, as Raducanu broke back on serve at 3-3. However, she critically dropped five straight games in the tiebreaker and missed two more opportunities to break Svitolina in the seventh game, which signaled the start of her surrender.

Despite the Briton’s valiant efforts to save three break points in her first service game of a pivotal third set, Svitolina ultimately outplayed her and won five straight games by taking full advantage of her opponent’s weariness.

By bringing the seventh game to deuce with an incredible passing backhand, Raducanu managed to at least save two match points and earn a spot in the quarterfinals. However, Svitolina answered with an incredible forehand to end the match on her third match point, saving Raducanu from inevitable defeat.

“It was really great match from both us. Emma played a great match as well, it was really difficult physically. I’m really happy the way I handled the pressure moments,” Svitolina said on the court.

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