Emma Raducanu’s US Open title defense came to an end at the first hurdle when she was defeated in straight sets by Alize Cornet of France in Flushing Meadows in New York.
Raducanu did not drop a set in her last ten matches, but she made too many errors on a windy New York evening and lost 6-3, 6-3.
The 19-year-rating old’s will now fall to around the 80 levels, but after a year that has been far from easy, she may be relieved that this stage of her career is done, and she can focus on laying more firm foundations for her tennis career.
Although unhappy, Raducanu did not lose a set in ten matches last year and welcomed the fresh start that the loss would provide.
The fans in a sparsely populated Louis Armstrong Stadium greeted Raducanu warmly as they welcomed back their most unlikely champion.
Virginia Wade, stunned by Raducanu’s triumph last year, was on the court. The main difference in the Kent teenager’s support camp now is the presence of Russian Dmitry Tursunov, whom she is trialing as she seeks a permanent coach.
The wind influenced the battle from the outset, with Raducanu finding it especially difficult to regain the same free-swinging technique that had left her opponents flat-footed but talked of a commitment to be on the front foot.
Cornet had not lost more than five games in a set in the previous year, but she came out on the right side of three consecutive breaks to lead 5-3 in the first set and showed excellent defensive abilities to clinch it.
The Frenchwoman, who is competing in her 63rd Grand Slam, has had one of her best seasons, reaching a long-awaited first major quarter-final in Australia before ending Iga Swiatek’s 37-match unbeaten streak at Wimbledon.
Raducanu took a medical break to have blisters on her fingers treated before returning to serve to begin the second set.
On the other hand, Cornet was giving away lots of free points via double faults, and with the 32-year-old dissatisfied with the roof shutting during play, Raducanu won three games in a row.
Cornet broke back with the wickedest of drop shots and pulled away to clinch victory.
Swiatek makes it to the next round of the US Open
In other news, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek easily defeated Jasmine Paolini in the first round.
Swiatek hasn’t been in terrific shape since her 37-match winning streak stopped at Wimbledon, but she breezed against Italian Paolini 6-3 6-0 in scorching conditions at Flushing Meadows.
Swiatek will want to improve on her best performance in New York, which occurred last year when she reached the fourth round.
Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina was the first to go down, falling 6-4, 6-4 against French qualifier Clara Burel.
Read Also: US Open 2022: What are Djokovic’s chances of featuring?
Rybakina stated before the competition that she did not feel treated like a Grand Slam champion and that is placed on the little Court 12 would not have changed her mind.
Sloane Stephens defeated Greet Minnen 1-6 6-3 6-3, while Karolina Pliskova defeated Magda Linette 6-2 4-6 7-6. (10-8).
Fourth seed Paula Badosa had to come back from a set down to defeat Lesia Tsurenko, while sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised over Catherine Harrison 6-1 6-3.
Eighth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States defeated Viktorija Golubic 6-2 6-2, while two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza defeated Clara Tauson 6-3 7-6. (7-5).
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