U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu suffered an early exit at the BNP Paribas Open, also known as the Indian Wells Masters, on Friday, losing 6-2, 6-4 to 100th ranked Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Raducanu, 18, had a whirlwind campaign at Flushing Meadows last month, and invitations to glamorous occasions following her victory.

The Briton was one of the most anticipated female singles players, if not the most, at Indian Wells, after top-ranked Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams dropped out for personal reasons.

Raducanu was aiming to earn points from this tournament for a berth at the season-ending WTA Finals, but fell short due to impatience and her many unforced errors in her opening and only match this time.

Sasnovich got service breaks to take leads of 3-1 and 5-2 and close out the set in 30 minutes without ever losing her serve.

Raducanu rallied in the second set, taking a 4-2 lead. But Sasnovich broke for a fifth time and led 5-4 before serving out the match.

"I'm kind of glad that what happened today happened so I can learn and take it as a lesson so going forward I'll just have more experience banked," said Raducanu.

Raducanu's U.S. Open final opponent, Canadian Leylah Fernandez, had a more smooth start than Raducanu, clinching an easy win against France's Alize Cornet, 6-2, 6-3. 

Also on Friday, 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek needed just 71 minutes to dispatch Petra Martic 6-1, 6-3.

On the men's side, former world number one Andy Murray beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2 in his first match as a wild-card. 

(With input from AP)