"Back to reality" - Wilander not surprised by Raducanu's early exit

Mats Wilander was not surprised Emma Raducanu lost in the opening round of the US Open as he views the loss as a snapping back into reality.

This has been talked about as a possibility ever since Raducanu showed that her level is far from what she showed at the US Open. The more lacklustre matches she played, the louder the talk became and eventually it proved true.

Speaking to Eurosport after the match, Wilander broke down what happened:

"It looked to me like she was playing OK. She started off well in the second set, that is when I thought she was going to turn it around. But there are opponents and match-ups at different parts of your career that are a good draw and not a good draw."

He explained why Cornet was able to win the match:

"I would say that for Raducanu right now, playing someone like Cornet who is smart and experienced, is not a good draw. She [Cornet] doesn't make mistakes and also is a giant killer, she's not afraid of the bigger players. It's just not a good draw. So is that [Raducanu's loss] a surprise? Not really to be honest."

Wilander then touched upon what he expects from her in near future:

"I do think that we now are going to start seeing what Raducanu is all about. She's going to drop all the ranking points, and she's going to start from zero, except she will still be in the majors and in most tournaments. Hopefully, she can hang on to [current coach] Dmitry Tursunov for a little longer than a few months because I think that is important too."