Raducanu’s defense at the US Open ends at the first hurdle
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| Place: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: August 29-September 11 |
| Coverage: Daily radio commentary on BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app, with selected live text commentary and match reports on the website and app |
Emma Raducanu’s US Open title defense fell at the first hurdle when she lost in straight sets to France’s Alize Cornet.
Raducanu, 19, stunned the world by winning a major as a teenager, but her return to the court at Flushing Meadows was less memorable.
The British number one was outplayed and dismissed by the experienced Cornet, who won 6-3 6-3 in New York.
Raducanu, seeded 11th, will drop down the rankings after losing the points he got with the title last year.
Seeing a reigning champion knocked out early often seems like a shock, but the reality is that this defeat of Raducanu was not unexpected.
The teenager has found her transition to full-time on the WTA Tour a test, with the season punctured by injuries contributing to inconsistent results.
Even his build-up to the US Open was not without problems. A poor training session on Friday was described as “one of those bad days”, although he played down the importance of a wrist injury that required treatment.
Drawing Cornet, a crafty and talented player with some notable results in the majors, in the first round was also as tough as it could have been.
Cornet is ranked 40th in the world and narrowly missed out on a seed.
At Wimbledon she ended world number one Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak and reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open at the start of what could be her final year as a professional.
Raducanu showed fight and determination throughout the first set and early in the second, but faded when Cornet’s relentless resistance wore her down.
More to follow.
