Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open preparations suffered a blow as she was stunned by world number 204 Taylah Preston at the Hobart International.
British number one Raducanu was the top seed at the event – her final one before the first Grand Slam of the year begins on Sunday.
However, she will travel to Melbourne with just one win under her belt after a 6-2 6-4 quarter-final defeat by Australia’s Preston.
Raducanu was particularly inconsistent on serve, committing four double faults and holding in only three of her nine service games.
She was twice a break up in both sets, but could not press home her advantage in another rain-affected match.
After going 4-2 down in the opening set, coach Francisco Roig could be heard urging her to “let it rip” and “don’t be static”.
However, she could not serve to stay in the set, planting a backhand into the net to give her opponent the lead.
Raducanu struggled again at the start of the second set, remarking to Roig that Preston’s shots were coming at her “so fast”, but she managed to establish a 3-1 lead.
However, she lost her next three service games in a row as Preston advanced to the semi-finals.
Raducanu’s sole title remains her 2021 US Open triumph – and she has not reached a final since then.
Her off-season was disrupted by a foot problem and she showed signs of rust in a loss to Maria Sakkari in her first match of the season.
She rallied to beat Camila Osorio in the first round in Hobart, but will arrive in Melbourne on the back of just three competitive outings.
Raducanu will begin her Australian Open campaign against Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew, with a potential third-round match against world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
