Emma Raducanu’s transformation comes to a juddering halt at Indian Wells

Emma Raducanu’s Indian Wells campaign came to an abrupt end in a 52-minute thrashing at the hands of Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova.

Raducanu might have looked like a figure transformed during her straight-sets win over qualifier Anastasia Zakharova in the previous round, but against Anisimova she came undone, in a ruthless 6-1, 6-1 defeat.

Instead of playing with freedom and confidence, Raducanu appeared tense and nervous and her technique suffered. It was a stark contrast to Anisimova, who described her own performance as “fearless” and the American did not have to face even a single break point.

In their three previous meetings, all of which took place in 2025, Raducanu won two. But when Anisimova came out of the blocks firing, she was not able to offer any resistance. It was reminiscent of their meeting in Montreal, when the Briton could only win three games in a 64-minute loss.

One of the cleanest ball-strikers in the game, Anisimova reached two Grand Slam finals last year, famously losing in a ‘double bagel’ at Wimbledon. But since then she has refined her game, even re-watching that final on the eve of her meeting with Iga Swiatek at the US Open, before going on to reach the final.

As the sixth seed in Palm Springs, she looks a force to be reckoned with as she broke Raducanu with ease with a wide array of shots that the British No 1 had little answer to as her movement appeared stilted. Anisimova played several drop shots that Raducanu did not even attempt to chase down, not that it would have changed the outcome.

It was a contest in which Raducanu never gained a foothold after being broken in the first game of the match. All of that renewed vigour she exemplified in the previous round was nowhere to be seen.

Anisimova played astonishing tennis to take the first set 6-1 while hardly breaking a sweat and in less than half an hour, hitting 10 winners to just one from Raducanu.

But the biggest difference was Anisimova’s serve. In the opener, she won over 87 per cent of the points once she landed her first serve, which she did almost two-thirds of the time, while Raducanu could only land it less than half the time and without the same threat. Far too often it was aimed at the dangerous Anisimova backhand, which allowed her to take control of the point.

Raducanu’s serve had been a liability all season, giving up an average of four breaks a match prior to Indian Wells, and it had looked more secure against Zakharova with a modified action, but the problems returned in force in the third round. Across the entire contest she won just six points on her first serve.

After a harrowing first set, Raducanu immediately walked over to Mark Petchey and her box to receive instruction, but the second set went much the same way as the first.

Speaking ahead of Indian Wells, Raducanu reiterated her desire to go back to what she described as her “natural way of playing” which she said had been coached out of her. But there was little of that natural freedom and movement against Anisimova.

Petchey rejoined her team on an ad-hoc basis, although he will not be able to give the same amount of time as he did last year, but cut a sorry-looking figure in her box in Palm Springs.

Although Indian Wells might not have gone the way Raducanu had hoped, there is not much time to turn it around before there will be points on the line to defend in Miami, the second part of the ‘Sunshine Double’ in around 10 days.

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