"Even when I was up 5–3, I didn’t feel very good out there" - Dispirited Raducanu frustrated with abysmal display enroute to lacklustre second round exit

Emma Raducanu was not at the races in her disastrous 7-6(3), 6-2 defeat to Anastasia Potapova. The British number one admitted that she never felt comfortable on court with her not playing the way she wants to.

The match started with five consecutive breaks in the favour of Raducanu, but she could not see the set out. The Austrian fought her way back into it before sailing into a 5-1 lead in the second set, which she would not relinquish as Raducanu suffers a fourth second round exit at the Australian Open in five prior meetings.

"I thought it was a very difficult match, especially with the conditions in the first set. It was tricky trying to get used to how lively it felt out there, and the wind was pretty strong from one side. It wasn’t something I felt too comfortable with, and I don’t think I dealt with it particularly well," she began in her press conference. "Even so, I still had some chances in the first set. But it was one of those days where you don’t feel too good on the court. Credit to her—she found a better solution in the first set and then really played better, I thought, in the second."

There was a certain mismatch in her performance compared to the style she wanted to play. "The misalignment between how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on. There are pockets where I’m playing the way I want, and that comes out in flashes, which is a positive. But it’s not how I want to be consistently. It’s not going to fall into place overnight, but the more I work on it, the more it will become my identity on court."

Today was just not Raducanu's day. The conditions were not to her favour as she struggled on in hope that she could nab a huge victory. She was 5-3 up before Potapova held to force Raducanu to serve out for the set but four points on the spin from the Austrian quickly shut down that ambition.

"Even when I was up 5–3, I didn’t feel very good out there in terms of hitting the ball well," she uttered. "I think it was more that I put an extra ball in the court and kind of cheated a bit, while she was definitely going for more."

She described it more as a 'scrap' with it not suiting her usual style. "In the second set, her shots were landing and mine were missing by a few inches here and there. You can be 5–3 up, but not feeling particularly good, and you’re just trying to scrap through every point. That’s not really how I want to be playing, but it did get me in the lead. I just didn’t feel like I could scrap like that for the whole match."

After the disappointment she suffered on the ANZ Arena, Raducanu is set to have a short spell away from the court as she gathers her thoughts. "I don’t think I’m going to get straight back on the practice court," she admitted. "I’m going to take a few days, get back home, and re-evaluate my game a bit."

Her plan is still in place, with the Transylvania Open the next event on her mind. "Right now, I’m signed up to play in Cluj, so hopefully I make it there. It would be nice to return to my dad’s home country—I haven’t been back in a few years—so that would be a really nice opportunity."

She will be looking back on her performance and seeing what she can do to make herself better. "Just reassessing the aspects of my game—watching it back, seeing where I can improve, what I’ve been feeling, and what’s visually apparent," she stated. "It’s about combining those things and working on them. I definitely want to feel better on certain shots before I start playing again. For me, that’s more of a priority than getting straight back into matches."

While off the court she has the guidance from her team, footage and data, on the court it is just her. She tackles this by finding 'answers within' to solve these complex scenarios. "I’ve realised over time that the best way for me to deal with tricky situations is to find the answers from within. When I look over and start questioning things, it can put more negativity in my head. I usually know the answer inside already. That’s what works best for me, rather than searching for answers externally. At the end of the day, I know what’s happening, so I try to figure it out on my own."

There were very early injury concerns for the 23-year-old when making the trip down to Australia. She unveiled how unprepared she was ahead of appearing at the United Cup. After missing the first match, she featured in the final group phase contest before participating in the Hobart International ahead of the Australian Open.

She was staggered by the progress she had made. "I would say a lot. On January 1st, when I came out here, I hadn’t moved—I hadn’t even done a basic movement drill," she remarked. "If you had told me I’d play four or five matches in Australia, regardless of results, from a physical perspective that would have been pretty surprising. I think I got better with each match, except today."

Now she has a period where she can reset and get over this lingering annoyance. "It has been a steep ramp-up. It’s not 100 percent, but I’ve made peace with that. It’ll be good to get everything rechecked now and see whether I need to offload it a bit. Physically, I’ve actually improved in the last few weeks, even with the increased load. Considering how things were at the end of last year, it’s a positive to feel this way after five matches."

Raducanu did what many thought was the possible back in the 2021 US Open. From qualifying, she did not drop a set through the entire event, defeating Leylah Fernandez to win an incredible Grand Slam triumph at the age of 18-years-old. From then, it has not been the best of results as she struggled to repeat those glorious events.

However, she is staying relative. "If you’d said when I was 18 that I would win that night in New York, no one would have expected that either. With that achievement, there’s inevitably going to be a low after such a high," she recognised.

"Winning a Slam at 18 from qualifying, ranked around 350 two months before—it was always going to come with challenges. I’ve learned a lot through mistakes and experiences. I think I’m slowly figuring out what works for me, and at Slams I think I am doing better. It’s about day-to-day improvement. That three-week stretch was unbelievable, but it’s a give and take, and I’ve accepted that."