Emma Raducanu faced a harsh reality in the third round of the Australian Open after winning just one game against Iga Swiatek.
Emma Raducanu admitted she needs to improve her new serve after a “tough” Grand Slam lesson from Iga Swiatek. The Polish superstar won her last 11 matches in a row at the Australian Open, en route to a 6-0, 6-1 third-round victory in just 70 minutes.
It was the British number two’s worst Grand Slam career defeat, matching her biggest defeat to Elena Rybakina in Sydney three years ago. Former British number one Laura Robson said: “It was brutal. Raducanu will leave the court today not knowing what happened.” And fellow TV commentator Sam Smith added: “There was only one woman there.”
The 2021 U.S. Open champion played her first tournament at the 2021 U.S. Open, facing a top-10 star for the first time in a major tournament this year.
She committed 20 double faults in her first two victories against No. 26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrov and world No. 35 Amanda Anisimova.
But world No. 2 Swiatek is in a class of her own, and Raducanu, who revamped her serving game in the offseason, only held serve once and was broken five times.
Only Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine has hit more than 24 aces in this tournament so far.
“Today’s result was obviously pretty tough,” said Raducanu, ranked No. 61 in the world. “I wish Iga luck. She played good tennis, but I think it’s because she played well and I didn’t play very well. Good for you. This combination was probably not good and led to the following result today:
“Of course it’s a difficult match when the top players play perfectly. Yes, I just want to work on certain things and make it better and more consistent. I feel like I look back and know exactly what I need to do and take it as feedback.”
“I want to improve my serving game. In the first two games I was able to win against the top two players because I was able to defend, move and take advantage of the rest of my game, but I think I need to improve on that.
“I know very well what happened there and the result reflects one thing. “I feel like when I can’t necessarily hold my serve or control it, it affects the rest of my game.
“I feel a lot more pressure on my second serve, even the point construction and return from there. I think that was probably a big factor today and probably in the first two matches too.”
Raducanu, who will next play in Singapore, suffered back spasms during pre-season training and had to cancel his only warm-up tournament in Auckland.
“I did some rehab in the pool when I was in Auckland three weeks ago at the end of last year,” she said.
“I think I’m just grateful to be on a tennis court and be able to play and compete. I started hitting after I got here 18 days ago and I think it’s a positive thing to have been able to beat two top-class opponents in the first two rounds.
But I don’t think there’s any excuses today about your back or your condition. I didn’t play well. She played very well. I think we have to be grateful to be in this position, considering how we prepared.
“I think one of my goals this year is just to be consistent. I think today is going to be a really good test in some ways, but looking back, I can also say I learned a lot from this test and got a lot of feedback on what I need to improve on.”