Emma Raducanu vs Maria Lourdes Carle LIVE: Madrid Open result and reaction as Brit suffers surprise defeat

Naomi Osaka is speeding towards the second round - she’s 3-0 up in the second already.

A strong performance in Stuttgart last week has led to a significant rise in the rankings for Emma Raducanu. Can she build on that run to the quarter-finals with more success here?

Emma Raducanu vs Maria Lourdes Carle will follow the opening match of the day at the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium - and Naomi Osaka has just wrapped up the first set against Greet Minnen 6-4.

Who is Maria Lourdes Carle?

The 24-year-old Argentine is ranked at a career-high 82 in the world and reached the Madrid Open first-round as a qualifier, with a spot opening up following the withdrawal of Karolina Pliskova.

Carle is in form, though, and is just coming off her highest-level title of her career earlier this month after winning the WTA 125 event in La Bisbal d’Emporda, Spain.

She is into the world’s top 100 for the first time and made it through to her first main draw of a WTA 1000 event in Miami this season.

The winner of this match will face 17th seed Veronika Kudermetova in the second round.

After her run to the Stuttgart Open quarter-finals, Iga Swiatek backed Emma Raducanu to compete for more titles following a competitive 7-6 6-3 victory over the former US Open champion.

Swiatek, the World No 1, said: “It was a pretty intense match, so I’m happy that I was able to keep the intensity even though we played a tough games for two hours.

“It wasn’t easy, I had a lot of break points that I couldn’t convert. I hope she’ll be able to do it [challenge for more titles] because for sure, she has a game for that.

“But it’s not easy.”

Raducanu, speaking to Sky Sports, on the difference in her mindset to 12 months ago: “I was thinking about my last interview in Madrid, so I think I’ve come on a lot since then.

“Obviously I had a lot going on, I knew I was going to have to have surgery, but I didn’t want to say anything about it.

“Coming here I feel a lot better, I’m in a lot better place with my tennis, mentally I feel really confident and I’m just looking forward for the rest of the clay season to be honest.”

The Madrid Open was Emma Raducanu’s final tournament before undergoing surgeries on both of her wrists and ankle last year, which saw the former US Open champion sidelined for the rest of the year.

Before confirming the surgery, Raducanu participated in a bizarre press conference that saw Briton reply 16 questions with total of 58 words.

Raducanu had been dealing with a recurring injury on a bone on the top of both hands, and had been playing through pain for the past 10 months. In Madrid, her frustration could no longer be downplayed.

Raducanu is looking a lot more positive and optimistic now.

Emma Raducanu says she is “in a lot better place” as she returns to the Madrid Open.

She told Sky Sports: “The altitude here, it doesn’t catch you as off guard. It’s always going to be different, but at least you can expect it and you know where things are, which always helps – you know where the stringer is, the gym is, everything, where to find the food. That’s where it does come in handy, but I think I’m just trying to freshen up physically as much as possible.

“This was the last place I came to last year before surgery and I pulled out on site, and then I had surgery and missed the next eight months.

“For me, it’s like now I have zero to defend for the rest of the year, so everything is a gain, everything is a win. Thinking how far I came since last year is a great thing.”

Can Raducanu build on improved form?

It’s been a good couple of weeks for Raducanu. Her impressive displays in leading Britain to victory at the Billie Jean King Cup were followed up by a decent run on the clay in Stuttgart, with wins over Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova before pushing Iga Swiatek in a competitive quarter-final.

It’s seen Raducanu jump up by 82 places in the WTA rankings, and she will hope to go higher in Madrid ahead of the French Open next month.

How can I watch the Madrid Open?

The Madrid Open will be shown on Sky Sports Tennis. If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.

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