Emma Raducanu's Ningbo Open campaign came to a halt at the first hurdle as she was stunned by wildcard Lin Zhu on Tuesday. 

Just a week after Raducanu was forced to retire from her opening-round clash at the Wuhan Open, she also had a medical timeout during her 6-3 4-6 1-6 defeat here. 

It brings a disappointing end to the Asian swing for the British number one, who managed just two wins across the last four tournaments on the continent. 

But Raducanu appeared on course for the second round after taking the early advantage, with the first set seeing five breaks of serve, three in favour of the Briton. 

Zhu was able to save four set points before eventually succumbing to Raducanu's pressure, though the latter appeared to be struggling with the conditions in the second set. 

At 4-3 down, Raducanu called for a physio and had her blood pressure taken, but even after taking on some fluids, she was unable to recover as Zhu forced a decider. 

And from there, the home hope controlled proceedings, cruising to victory to set up a tie with top seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in the quarter-finals. 

Round of 16 calling

Lin Zhu defeats Raducanu 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to move ahead in Ningbo.#NingboOpen pic.twitter.com/GyjoD4QUbt

— wta (@WTA) October 14, 2025

Data Debrief: Raducanu's struggles continued

After withdrawing from Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup squad to focus on her singles form, Raducanu has failed to deliver as she slumped to her third consecutive defeat. 

But upon resumption from her medical timeout, Raducanu proved no match for Zhu, with her opponent reeling off 16 of the last 19 points as she cruised to victory. 

Though she was able to save 14 of the 22 break points she faced, Raducanu also served up five double faults.