An emotional Emma Raducanu stated she ought to have gotten extra matches below her belt forward of the US Open after the previous champion misplaced 6-1 3-6 6-4 within the first spherical to American Sofia Kenin on Tuesday.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner, placed on an aggressive show with six aces and 45 winners to arrange a gathering with compatriot Jessica Pegula within the subsequent spherical.
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Britain’s Raducanu has struggled to recapture the magic of her fairytale run via New York three years in the past when she turned the primary qualifier to win a Grand Slam.
She skipped key tune-up occasions in Toronto and Cincinnati, taking a special method in her buildup to the 12 months’s remaining main, however struggled to search out her ft as Kenin ripped via the opening set.
“I’d have in all probability most popular to play a bit of bit extra,” Raducanu stated. “When I’ve plenty of matches, similar to each participant, you are feeling actually good, you are feeling like all the pieces’s automated. So yeah, I believe I can be taught from it.”
Raducanu, who raised hopes of a renaissance when she reached the fourth spherical at Wimbledon this 12 months, upped her stage within the second set and acquired the crucial break within the fifth recreation.
She broke the American once more with a forehand winner to shut out the set however then ran out of steam, dropping serve with a double fault within the fifth recreation of the decider earlier than Kenin went on to seal victory with a maintain to like within the remaining recreation.
“It was a really powerful match — Emma’s a earlier champion right here so in fact I sort of felt that,” Kenin stated.
“I felt like I needed to dig deep to get the win.”
Raducanu has not gained a match at Flushing Meadows since selecting up her lone main title. She was knocked out within the first spherical in 2022 and missed the event a 12 months later attributable to damage.
She turned emotional briefly throughout a post-match information convention however stated she would attempt to remove some positives from her newest main marketing campaign.
“I really feel down. I really feel unhappy,” she stated. “Clearly this can be a event that I actually wish to do nicely in.”
