Emma Raducanu was in tears after her latest first-round loss at the US Open – but the Brit showed her fighting spirit by already looking ahead to her next challenges.
Emma Raducanu showed her true character after suffering heartbreak with yet another early US Open exit, revealing she has already got her eye on bouncing back.
Raducanu broke down in tears after being knocked out of the first round at Flushing Meadows overnight by American Sofia Kenin. The British tennis star was beaten 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in front of a sparse crowd on Grandstand, which means she is yet to win a match in New York since winning the tournament as a qualifier back in 2021.
The 21-year-old’s emotions got the better of her as she had to fight back tears when asked how she was feeling in her post-match interview. But Raducanu also displayed a strong mentality by stating she was looking ahead to putting things right at the Korea Open – which begins on September 16 – and the Australian Open in the new year.
Demonstrating that she is still hungry to improve, Raducanu said: “I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season. Obviously the Slams are over for this year, but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again (in January).”
She’d initially said, while crying: “I feel down, I feel sad. Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in. I was maybe a bit slow starting. Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play, a little bit more before coming into the US Open.
“You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good. You feel like everything’s automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it. And you know my manage my schedule slightly differently.”
Last month at Wimbledon, Raducanu achieved her best Grand Slam showing since the US Open triumph three years prior by reaching the fourth round at SW19. Her appearance at Flushing Meadows marked only her second tournament since opting out of qualifiers in Toronto and Cincinnati.
The decisive moment against 2020 Australian Open winner Kenin came in the fifth game of the final set when Raducanu fell 0-40 down. She gave away the second break point with a double fault. In the 41-minute first set, she also lost six consecutive games after saving a breakpoint in her 12-point first service game.
The Korea Open in Seoul provides her with a shot at redemption. It’s less than three weeks away, and concludes on September 22. The next grand slam, meanwhile, is not a million miles away, with the Australian Open starting on January 12.
