Anhelina Kalinina advances past Emma Raducanu in the first round of the Qatar Open

Doha, Qatar's Emma Raducanu "struggled with everything" after losing to world number thirty Anhelina Kalinina in the opening round of the tournament.

With 15 unforced errors compared to her Ukrainian opponent's two, the British player was much below par in the first set.

Kalinina won 6-0, 7-6, 8-6 after she saved two match points in the second, which was much more competitive.

The 21-year-old Raducanu told Sky Sports, "I was struggling with everything - serve, return, forehand, backhand."

"I felt like I never really got into it."

The former US Open champion is finally getting back to the court after a lengthy absence in 2023 due to surgery on her left ankle, both hands, and both wrists.

She bounced back with a win in her return tournament in Auckland, advanced to the Australian Open semifinals, and defeated Marie Bouzkova, ranked 36th in the world, last week in Abu Dhabi.

However, she lost badly against second-seeded Ons Jabeur after that victory, and despite receiving a second wildcard for this week's tournament in Qatar, she was once again eliminated early.

In the second-set breaker, Raducanu served for a set at 6-5, but Kalinina saved the point and went on to win the match.

Next up for the eighth seed Kalinina is eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko, but the Briton committed 48 unforced mistakes to Kalinina's 22.

"It was a combination of things," Raducanu explained.

After a year, I finally got to play in a day-match. That is unique.

It would be beneficial for me to train outdoors more often. It becomes increasingly difficult to see the ball as the game progresses due to the lighting, weather, and shadows.

"When my tennis isn't there I have to try and at least fight and I did that in the second set."

According to Raducanu, she needs to "schedule my tournaments a bit better" before she can return home after being on tour for consecutive weeks.

"I just struggled with the timing of the ball," she commented. More time practicing and more matches will help with it.

The tour timetable is really foreign to me. One tournament follows immediately after another.

"I need to schedule my tournaments a bit better and try to get more matches under my belt."

Also on Monday, Naomi Osaka, winner of four major titles, defeated Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia in a first-round tie, 7-5, 6-4.

After giving birth last year, Osaka, 26, returned to Grand Slam play in January at the Australian Open. However, 30-year-old Garcia eliminated her in the first round.

In Doha, the Japanese player found herself behind 5-3 in the first set until Garcia, the 15th seed, made a mistake. This gave Osaka an opportunity to rally and win the set with a four-game winning streak.

In the first round, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Magdalena Frech of Poland, 6-3 3-6 6-3.

Azarenka will play Xinyu Wang of China in the following round, while the unseeded Osaka will face Petra Martic of Croatia.

Polish top seed and current world number one Iga Swiatek breezed through Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1 in little over an hour in the second round.