Camila Giorgi

Emma Raducanu made a first-round exit at the National Bank Open in Toronto after losing in straight sets to defending champion Camila Giorgi.

The Italian earns two break points after a wayward Raducanu forehand and is back to parity the very next point. The Italian is continuing her aggression hitting a lot of her returns inside the baseline and that tactic is continuing to work well for her as it helps her win the next point for three break points... Raducanu is growing into this match, her return of serve is getting better with every service game of Giorgi and a great forehand off an Italian serve earns her a break point. Its purpose is to create a fluid to try and protect itself from the trauma and ultimately then it gets calloused and thick. She's down 0-15 early - thanks to a backhand into the net - and that's soon 0-30 as Giorgi creates pace from the back of the court, taking the ball on the rise and smacking it into the corner for a well-worked winner. At deuce a Giorgi forehand into the net gives Raducanu the advantage. Not sure where that confident service game came from from the Italian but it's come and means that once again Raducanu will have to serve to stay in the set. Raducanu is under pressure BUT a fine first serve gets the game back to deuce. From there the Italian plays one of her brutal forehand winners - she really doesn't hold back - to make it 5-0. There are too many unforced errors coming from the racket of Giorgi (22 in that first set). She's at 15-30 in this game when she slaps a forehand into the net under no pressure at all. That's nine points in a row for the Italian and it's looking as though Raducanu is leaving early from Toronto unless she can turn this around now, she has no time to spare. On paper, Raducanu should be beating a player of Giorgi's calibre, but based on her level of experience and wavering form she has understandably found it difficult to score wins.