Emma Raducanu was knocked out in the opening round of the US Open by Sofia Kenin in a battle of former Grand Slam champions on Tuesday night in New York. Raducanu has struggled to recapture the magic of her fairy-tale run at Flushing Meadows three years ago when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam.
And American Kenin sent Raducanu packing with a 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory in front of a sparse crowd on Grandstand.
An emotional Raducanu wiped away tears when asked how she was feeling during her press conference. “I feel down, I feel sad. Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in so... after the first set I was outplayed completely and I think I did well to equal it,” she said.
“The third set was pretty high-level tennis and I think certain parts of my game in dealing with her speed of shot, dealing with her pace, certain parts I actually executed better than in previous matches. I came across a very in-form opponent, and she played really well.”
Kenin ripped through the opening set by winning six straight games before Raducanu, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon this year, upped her level in the second set. The Briton had 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.
Kenin recovered the break straight back 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 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin losing her cool by hitting the ball into the backboard. Two brilliant winners saw Raducanu take a second break and the second set in style.
However, Raducanu ran out of steam, dropping serve with a double fault in the fifth game of the decider as she was broken and there was no way back from there as Kenin clinically saw it out.
Having played just one tournament since Wimbledon and skipping the Olympics to focus on her preparation for the US Open, Raducanu will be desperately disappointed to fall at the first hurdle and questions remain over the direction of her career. In her defence, it was a tough draw for Raducanu against the former world No 4, who showed some of her best form.
Raducanu plans to go back to the drawing board before playing at the Korea Open in Seoul on September 16. “Until then, 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,” Raducanu said. “Obviously the Slams are over for this year, but it's not actually that long until Australia comes around again (in January).”
