Singapore Open: Raducanu knocked out by Bucsa in tight three-hour tussle

Cristina Bucsa put an early end to the hopes of No 7 seed Emma Raducanu in Singapore, beating the Briton 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 in a lengthy encounter.

It was a topsy-turvy affair from the start, with the pair exchanging a total of 17 breaks in 36 games.

Raducanu grabbed the decisive break in the first set, however, breaking twice as the Spaniard had served for the set to clinch a one-set lead at the deat.

The second stanza saw a continued flurry of breaks, with neither player looking confident behind their serve. But Bucsa broke in the eleventh and twelfth games to gain parity at one set apiece.

The third stanza was just as chaotic as the previous two had been, as an unpredictable match turned into a marathon three-hour tussle.

Raducanu – who was coming into the Singapore Open having off the back of making her first third-round appearance at the Australian Open earlier this month – twice led by a break in the decider, but could not convert that late lead into victory.

Bucsa again fought back to break in the eleventh and twelfth games, just as she did in the second, to clinch a hard-fought victory and upset the seventh seed.

Bucsa, ranked No 101, will play the winner of the match between Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Chinese qualifier Sijia Wei next.

Singapore WTA 250, other first-round results (Kallang Tennis Hub, USD 275.094, most recent results first):

• Yuliia Starodubtseva vs. Tatjana Maria
• Taylor Townsend vs. Elise Mertens
• Jil Teichmann vs. Harriet Dart
• Rebecca Marino vs. Xinyu Wang
• Moyuka Uchijima vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Amanda Anisimova vs. Xiyu Wang
• Kimberly Birrell vs. Polina Kudermetova
• Renata Zarazua vs. Hailey Baptiste
• Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Simona Waltert
• Dominika Salkova vs. Erika Andreeva
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Caroline Dolehide
• Mananchaya Sawangkaew vs. Sijia Wei: monday
• Maya Joint (Q) beat Alycia Parks: 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
• Ann Li beat Daria Saville: 6-3, 6-1
• Camila Osorio (6) beat Bernarda Pera: 6-1, 6-7, 6-3