Emma Raducanu believes there are positives from her performance at the Australian Open but at the same time admits there is room for improvement after going out in the second round.
The 28th seed was unable to capitalize on a lead in the opening set during her 7-6(3), 6-2 loss against world No.55th Anastasia Potapova. Raducanu worked her way to a 5-3 advantage but was unable to keep hold of it during an error-stricken match where she had 11 more unforced errors than winners (28-17). She has now failed to win back-to-back matches in Melbourne in four out of her five appearances.
It is another frustrating loss for the former US Open champion, who entered the season with a foot injury and subsequently had to pull out of her opening match at the United Cup. Coming into the Grand Slam, she had played only two Tour-level matches at the Hobart International.
“I don’t want to give myself too much of a hard time because I know my preparation going into this tournament,” Raducanu told reporters in Melbourne.
“I kind of have to leave with my head held high because of the matches I’ve had here. I didn’t even know at the beginning if I would be coming to Australia, so it’s a positive in that sense.”
Raducanu plans to take a brief break before returning to work on her game, which she plans to ‘re-evaluate’ with her team. Since last year, she has been coached by Francisco Roi, who is the former long-time mentor of Rafael Nadal.
“I definitely want to feel better on certain shots before I start playing again. So for me, that’s more of a priority than getting straight back onto the match court,” she explained.
“I want to be playing a different way, and I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something that I just want to work on.
“There are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play, and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive, and maybe more than certain times in my career in the last few years. But it’s not how I want to be, like, consistently every day.
“It’s not going to fall into place straight away, but the more I work on how I want to be playing, it will be more of my identity every time I step onto the court.”
As for her foot, the Brit confirmed that it is still ‘not 100%,’ but she is ‘at peace with it.’ Following her loss, she will undergo another check to make sure no further damage has been caused or if she needs to make any adjustments to address the issue.
Since her Grand Slam triumph in 2021, Raducanu has only reached the third round or better of a major in four out of 12 appearances. Although three of those were during 2025.
