Emma Raducanu suffered her third first-round tournament defeat inside two weeks after she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Qatar Open on Sunday. 

Raducanu, who was given a second successive wildcard for the WTA's latest tournament, was beaten 6-3 7-5 by Alexandrova, who avenged her loss to the Briton at the Australian Open last month. 

The world number 60 started strongly in both sets with early breaks of serve, but Alexandrova soon cancelled out Raducanu's advantage each time.

Alexandrova won the final five games of the first set to take the early advantage, winning 64% (14/22) of her first-serve points to put her opponent on the back foot. 

Raducanu and Alexandrova traded breaks of serve in the second, but a decisive break in the Russian's favour with the game tied at 5-5 made the difference as she saw out the win. 

"I was looking forward to this match because the last match we played was really close and really difficult," said Alexandrova.

"I was really upset after that match, so when I saw the draw, I thought maybe it was going to be my chance. I'm really happy with the win, especially after what happened at the Australian Open."

The result means that Alexandrova, rather than Raducanu, will now face world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the next round of the competition on Tuesday.

Closing it out

Ekaterina Alexandrova beats Raducanu in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/9KkklYVexj

— wta (@WTA) February 9, 2025

Data Debrief: Back to the drawing board

Having finished the 2024 season strongly, Raducanu has failed to build on that momentum as she fell at the first hurdle in Qatar. 

She won just six of her 18 first-serve points, while only saving 37% (3/8) of the break points she faced, coming out second best against a confident Alexandrova. 

The Russian has now won her last five games following her triumph at the Linz Open, and will be hoping to upset Sabalenka who kickstarts her 2025 campaign next week.