Emma Raducanu broke down in tears in her post-match press conference after suffering another humbling first round defeat at the US Open.
“I feel down, I feel sad,” she sobbed. “Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in.
The Bromley-based star has still to win a match in New York since her amazing 2021 triumph after losing 6-1 3-6 6-4 to American Sofia Kenin.
Her defence of the title was over after only one match when she lost in straight sets in the opening round in 2022. And she missed last year’s event after wrist and ankle injuries.
Raducanu, who did not drop a set in 10 matches where she triumphed here as a qualifier, did win her first set since to draw the match level at one-set all on the Grandstand court
The decisive moment came in the fifth game of the final set when Raducanu fell 0-40 down – and gave away the second break point with a double fault.
But in the 41-minute first set, she lost six consecutive games after saving a break point in her 12-point first service game.
Raducanu, 21, had recorded her best Grand Slam result since her win here by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last month but this was only her second tournament since after deciding not to enter qualifying in Toronto and Cincinnati.
“I was maybe a bit slow starting,” she said. “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.
Kenin won the 2020 Australian Open and has struggled for form since. She went on an eight-match losing streak earlier this season. And after losing in the first rounds in Eastbourne, Wimbledon, Washington and Toronto, she won her first match since Roland Garros in Cleveland.
“I feel like the match that I had in Cleveland, even though it was super windy, that kind of put the momentum for me, and even though I lost a close one against Clara Burel, I feel like having those two matches under my belt coming into US Open gave me definitely some confidence,” she said. “And of course, I believe that I could win.”
Raducanu, 21, next plans to play the Korea Open next month. “Until then, I’m just gonna go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season,” she said. “Obviously, the Slams are over for this year, but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again.
