Emma Raducanu in tears early in Dubai loss to Karolína Muchová

There were troubling scenes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, with Emma Raducanu breaking down in tears early in a loss Karolína Muchová.

After going down 2-0 in the opening set of their second round, a crying Raducanu approached umpire Miriam Bley.

Raducanu was clearly distressed as she sobbed while explaining something to Bley, who immediately looked off court and jumped onto her radio to relay a message.

The 2021 US Open winner walked behind the umpire's chair while Muchová sought an explanation from Bley, before walking over to comfort her opponent.

"It doesn't look good for Raducanu. This is very, very concerning," a commentator said.

"You never want to see a player in tears on court; this is meant to be a fun game."

Raducanu wiped her face with her towel and took a few deep breaths to compose herself before carrying on with the match, the start of which was delayed by rain.

She fell behind 4-0 in the first set before coming back to force a tie-break.

Coming off a win over world number 29 Maria Sakkari, Raducanu went down to 14th-seeded Muchová 7-6(8/6), 6-4.

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