Sky Sports faced heavy criticism from fans who labelled their coverage a “shambles” after Emma Raducanu`s initial match at the Madrid Open suddenly vanished from their television broadcast.
The British player was competing against Dutch world No. 73, Suzan Lamens, in her opening match of the tournament on Wednesday.
Despite Raducanu ultimately winning the match with a score of 7-6, 6-4, marking her first clay court victory of the season, numerous viewers voiced complaints regarding an unexpected technical fault.
Fans were frustrated when the match coverage abruptly cut out, only for the Sky broadcast to switch unexpectedly to a men`s singles match featuring Nuno Borges against Pablo Carreno Busta.
Disgruntled viewers quickly took to social media to express their annoyance. Comments included demanding Sky Sports sort out their tennis coverage, calling the situation a “shambles,” and questioning the sudden switch to a different match.
Some reported that the issue persisted for approximately 10 minutes before the broadcaster seemingly resolved the problem, allowing fans to rejoin Raducanu`s match as she secured her place in the second round.
Raducanu`s win over Lamens was her first competitive match since her commendable performance reaching the quarter-finals of the Miami Open last month.
Prior to her opening match in Madrid, Raducanu confirmed her plans to continue her coaching collaboration with Mark Petchey.
After the victory, the 22-year-old highlighted the significance of this win for her. She stated, “It meant a lot to me to get my first match win on the clay.”
She added that losing in the first round in Madrid last year had meant she missed the rest of the clay court season, making this year`s initial win particularly important.
The British No. 2 is scheduled to play her next match against Ukrainian world No. 36 Marta Kostyuk.
The 2021 US Open champion is currently focusing on preparing for the upcoming major tournament, the French Open, which is set to begin on May 25th.
