Emma Raducanu sobs in US Open press conference, questions decision not to play warm-ups

Emma Raducanu was left sobbing in her press conference after a crushing loss to Sofia Kenin at the 2024 US Open. She is still yet to win a match at the US Open since her 2021 triumph.

Raducanu lost 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to the American. She lost in straight sets in the opening round back in 2022 and she then missed last year's tournament due to injury.

Not dropping a set as a qualifier back in 2021, she did win her first set since but she fell away against Kenin at the wrong time losing six consecutive games after initially saving.a break point and Kenin found her way through.

“I feel down, I feel sad,” she sobbed. “Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in.”

She also finally admitted that perhaps it wasn't the right call to snub playing before the US Open with a lot of pre tournament discourse surrounding her snub of playing warm-ups and qualifying.

“I was maybe a bit slow starting,” she said. “Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play, a little bit more before coming into the US Open.

"You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player,you feel really good. You feel like everything's automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it. And you know my manage my schedule slightly differently.”

But even now, she won't play again immediately with the Korea Open next month being her next tournament. A slightly puzzling year for Raducanu gets all the more puzzling.

“Until then, I'm just gonna go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season,” she said. “Obviously, the Slams are over for this year, but it's not actually that long until Australia comes around again.”