A tearful Emma Raducanu was feeling “sad” as her wait for a first win at the US Open since her memorable 2021 triumph goes on.
The 21-year-old stunned the world three years ago when she won the title in her third senior tournament, but it has not been a happy hunting ground since.
After a first-round exit in 2022 and missing last year through injury, Sofia Kenin handed out more misery with a 6-1 3-6 6-4 win on the Grandstand court.
Sofia Kenin defeats Raducanu in a battle of former Grand Slam champions. pic.twitter.com/K0vFd7KlEK
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2024
Asked how the defeat made her feel, she paused before fighting back the tears to say: “Yeah, I feel down, like I feel sad.
“This is a tournament I really want to do well in.”
She continued: “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.”
Having played just one tournament since Wimbledon and skipping the Olympics to focus on the US Open, questions remain over the direction of her career.
She admitted that she might have got her preparation wrong.
“I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open,” she said.
“I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything’s automatic.
“I can learn from it. And, you know, manage my schedule slightly differently.
“It wasn’t just me. It was more of like a collective call and that’s what happened, and I can’t really change it.”
It was a tough draw for Raducanu against the former Australian Open winner, who showed some of her best form.
Kenin took a particular liking to Raducanu’s serve and broke three times on her way to a dominant first set.
Things are level over at Grandstand with Raducanu and Kenin 👀 pic.twitter.com/tXL2TfC3tq
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2024
The Briton missed three break points of her own in the first set but made a move at the start of the second by taking Kenin’s serve.
The American recovered but a crucial point at 2-2 and 15-15, where Raducanu hit a backhand winner down the line, changed the momentum of the second set.
It helped her break, with Kenin losing her cool and hitting the ball into the backboard. Two brilliant winners saw Raducanu take a second break and set in style.
But it all went wrong for the Brit in the fifth game of the decider as she was broken, with Kenin clinically closing out the match.
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