Emma Raducanu is now on the longest losing run of her entire career to spark an intense debate over why she keeps being awarded wildcards.
Raducanu lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Sunday to mark four straight WTA defeats for the first time ever.
Alexandrova’s 6-3 7-5 win over Raducanu follows the Briton’s first-round exits in Abu Dhabi and Singapore and her third-round Australian Open exit.
Some felt world No.60 Raducanu, who is currently working without a full-time coach, was lucky to play at the Qatar Open in the first place after she was controversially handed a wildcard over Swiss star Belinda Bencic.
A tennis wildcard is given to a player who has a ranking not high enough to automatically qualify for the main draw of an event, like Raducanu in Qatar.
Tournament organisers decide who receives wildcards and they can be based on factors such as a player’s potential to bring in a large crowd, such as Raducanu, who attracted world fame by historically winning the US Open as an unknown qualifier four years ago.
Raducanu has been given a staggering 12 wildcard entries since she made her return from surgery in 2024, with some tennis fans accusing tournament organisers of being too focused on marketability.
‘Waiting for Raducanu to get another underserved wild card in Dubai,’ one tennis fan, @ZAN_93, posted on X.
‘Stop giving her wild cards!’ a second tennis fan, @Filip_Misiurek, added. ‘This pseudo star hasn’t played a good match in 4 years. Her performances do not attract fans because they are short, boring, bland and emotionless.’
‘One can see, from the comments here, how unproductive undeserved wild cards can become,’ @judas_bricaud said.
‘Raducanu is turning every week more and more tennis fans against her. Bouchard went through the same after Wimbledon 2014, and we all know the career she had afterwards…’
@ViewUnmasked posted: ‘And here goes the wild card down the drain. It’s a shame, @BelindaBencic could have made better use of it.’
Bencic, world No.65, missed out on a wildcard for Qatar despite clinching the Abu Dhabi Open title on Saturday. It marked her first trophy since returning to the WTA Tour after giving birth.
Ekaterina Alexandrova delighted to secure revenge over Emma Raducanu
Raducanu was hopeful of ending her three-match losing streak against Alexandrova in Qatar, given she beat the same player at the Australian Open last month.
But the British No.2 – ranked inside the world top 10 three years ago – blew 3-1 leads in both sets to crash out of the first WTA 1000 event of the year.
Speaking after the match, Russian star Alexandrova admitted that she was targeting revenge over one-time Grand Slam champion Raducanu.
‘I was looking forward to this match because last match we played it was really close and really difficult,’ Alexandrova said.
‘I was really upset after that match, so when I saw the draw, I thought maybe it’s going to be my chance. I’m really happy with the win, especially after what happened at the Australian Open.’