"Did not want to go out like that" says Emma Raducanu after Australian Open exit

Emma Raducanu is out of the Australian Open in round 2 following a loss to Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, but the Brit was proud of the way she fought in the match.

It was a match of adversity for Emma Raducanu who did not have her best stuff today but also struggled with hand issues. Very early into the match, Raducanu opted to call a medical timeout for blisters that impacted her play. She resumed play after that but her hand was heavily taped for the rest of the match and it had an effect on her.

She said:

"It was a difficult match. I was struggling with my hand before the match. There were some people in my team that maybe didn't want me to play but I wanted to go out there and fight through it, see how far I could get."

Raducanu played decent at times but ran into trouble against a very inspired Kovicnic who arguably played one of her best matches ever. Raducanu took it as a learning experience:

"But I thought it was a pretty good learning experience for me. I discovered tools about myself and my game that I didn't know I had before so I can take some positives even from this match."

On the hand issue she said:

"From day one, day two, I was getting blisters pop up here and there. This particular one has been with me for about five days and I have been trying to tape it for every practice, and it would harden and dry out, but then once I would play again, another layer would just keep ripping off. It ended up being pretty deep. It's a bit annoying because I know it's something that will heal in a few days, but it's just unfortunate timing."