EMMA Raducanu was brought crashing back down to Earth on Friday night following defeat to world No 100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Teen sensation Raducanu lost 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets at Indian Wells – with Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong claiming she lacked ‘fire’.
It was 18-year-old Raducanu’s first match since her historic US Open victory last month.
Glory at Flushing Meadows saw her leapfrog from world no150 to no22 heading to Indian Wells in California.
But in a lacklustre performance against Sasnovich, Keothavong has advised Raducanu to have some time away from the court and ‘go off and chill’.
She said: “Not good enough decision-making [from Raducanu]. There was not enough fire from Emma unfortunately.”
Keothavong went on to say: “She just needs to go off and chill and calm down.
“It is going to be a tough one to take for her, she would have had high expectations herself, the confidence, wanting to show everyone what she was capable of, but it is back to the drawing board.
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“She is still new to all of this, she still has a number of tournaments left before the end of the season so there is time to pick things up again, work on her game.
“She knows inside she could have done better, she could have had better presence, but maybe one not to overthink.”
Raducanu was seeded 17th for the tournament at Indian Wells, meaning she entered the competition in the second round.
And despite Keothavong’s suggestions to rest Raducanu is still lined up for events in Moscow, Romania and Austria before the end of the 2021 season.
She is now set to jet from California to Russia to take part in the Kremlin Cup which gets underway on October 18.
Following that is the Transylvania Open in Romania – her father’s home nation.
Incredibly defeat at Indian Wells means she is still to win a match at a WTA top-level event.
That’s despite the teenager being a Grand Slam champion.
