Emma Raducanu missed a chance to push for a return to the top 50 of the WTA Rankings as she produced an error-strewn display in windy conditions to lose 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the WTA 1000 tournament at Indian Wells against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.

Once again, it was Raducanu’s serve that proved to be her biggest problem, as she faced 10 break points and lost her service games on five occasions against Uchijima.

The 2021 US Open champion was also guilty of making too many errors in the match, as the swirling winds made it difficult for both players to find any rhythm.

Despite the tricky conditions, Raducanu will be disappointed by her performance in what she describes as her favourite tournament outside of the four Grand Slam events in tennis.

After reaching the third round at Indian Wells last year, Raducanu will now face a dip in her WTA Ranking and she could drop out of the top 60 when it is next updated.

Raducanu will now reflect in what has been a challenging few weeks, with her previous tournament in Dubai the scene for an alarming confrontation with a man who was displaying ‘fixated behaviour’ towards the British tennis star.

Raducanu was seen cowering behind the umpire’s chair in tears after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a man before and during her second-round match against Karolina Muchova in Dubai.

The 22-year-old admitted she made a late decision to play in Indian Wells after she was assured of having extra security to protect her at the event, but it was unclear how much practice she had put in prior to her arrival in California.

This latest defeat against Uchijima means Raducanu has now lost five of her last six matches and she will need to make a decision on whether she will stay in America to play in the Miami Open later this month.

This early exit in Indian Wells means she will have a long wait until her next match and after pulling out of the Miami tournament last year, she may well consider a break from tennis is what she now needs.

Raducanu will be expected to play for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup in the Netherlands next month and will then head into the clay court season, on her least favourite surface.

The challenge for Raducanu appears to be finding consistency in her game and a winning formula that can be sustained in the sport’s biggest events, as her record in 2025 to date reads played nine, won three, lost six.

That is not the record of a player who has aspirations to get into the seeded positions for the next Grand Slam at the French Open in May, but former British No 1 Tim Henman has urged her to continue to play matches even if she is losing more than she would like.

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“If she can stay healthy and competes a lot, the results will come because she’s that good,” said Sky Sports Tennis analyst Henman.

“If she wasn’t good enough, you’d say she has to pick her tournaments and play some weaker events. With Emma, if she stays healthy, I’m convinced the results will follow.

“I never thought it was about her level. When she has played, her level has always been very good, but if you look at the breakdown of her ranking last year, I think she played 33 matches and 11 of them were on grass.

“When you look at the other 10 months of the year, to have only played 22 matches is so few. She is aware of that, I’m sure, and she will get a coach at the right moment, but for me, the physical work she is doing is most significant.

“I’ve always been a big, big advocate of playing matches. I always played a lot of matches.

“When you look at college tennis now, it is such a good opportunity because they compete match after match.”

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