Emma Raducanu's physical struggles rolled on as she suffered a surprise defeat to Antonia Ruzic at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Lucky loser Ruzic was called up to replace Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who had to withdraw due to a thigh issue.

And world number 67 Ruzic made the most of her unexpected chance, prevailing 6-1 5-7 6-2 over the 2021 US Open champion.

Raducanu was clearly struggling in the first set, with both the physio and doctor called onto court at the end of it.

The British number one, who retired from her first-round match at last week's Qatar Open due to high blood pressure, recovered in the second set, but seemingly ran out of steam in the decider.

After going down 2-0, Ruzic reeled off six straight games to seal her progress.

Round 2

Antonia Ruzic impresses in Dubai, coming through against Raducanu 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.#DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/jzLPoGvCpn

— wta (@WTA) February 16, 2026

Raducanu's defeat came after Victoria Mboko had withdrawn, joining big names Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek in pulling out of the tournament.

Barbora Krejcikova was another player to pull out of the tournament with a left thigh injury, sending second seed Amanda Anisimova through to the next round, where she will face wildcard Janice Tjen. 

Data Debrief: Ruzic's serve does the job

Raducanu won just 21% of her return games, breaking Ruzic three times.

Ruzic, on the other hand, won 76% of her service games (11/14), compared to Raducanu's 53% win rate with ball in hand (7/13).

The Croatian also bettered Raducanu for aces, with 10 to six, with Ruzic committing six double-faults to her opponent's seven.