TENNIS: Ruzic grabs Dubai spotlight as lucky loser shocks Raducanu

Antonia Ruzic made the most of her unexpected second chance at the Dubai Tennis Championships, pulling off a stunning win over Grand Slam champion Emma Raducanu. The Croatian, ranked 67th in the world, had lost in the first round of qualifying last week to Rebecca Sramkova but gained entry into the main draw after seven players, including Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, withdrew.

Ruzic, 23, faced Raducanu after Elisabetta Cocciaretto pulled out due to injury and delivered a commanding performance to claim her first career top-30 victory, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 on Monday.

"The whole turnaround was crazy," Ruzic said. "I was a lucky loser who had lost in the first round of the qualifiers. A lot of the girls were cancelling and a lot of them were not here to sign as alternates. I was like, 'OK, I'm going to sign and let's see what happens.'"

She added that she and compatriot Petra Marcinko, who also received a lucky loser entry, had stayed in Dubai to compete in the doubles tournament together. "We were going to stay here for two or three days. Playing against Emma, of course, is a tough match. We played three sets of good tennis, and it was a battle in the third. I'm happy I managed to get it under control and win in the end."

The loss marked a difficult start to the Middle East hard court swing for world number 25 Raducanu, who sought medical attention during the match for an unspecified issue. The Briton had also retired due to illness in her first-round match at the Qatar Open last week and was beaten by Sorana Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final earlier this month.

-Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill/Reuters