January 18th 2024.
Emma Raducanu was back on the court for only her second tournament since April and unfortunately, it didn't go as well as she had hoped. The British tennis star was knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round on Thursday after losing to Chinese player Wang Yafan, who is currently ranked No. 94 in the world.
It was a tough match for Raducanu, who is currently ranked No. 296 due to injury struggles and surgery. Despite her best efforts, she lost the match 6-4 4-6 6-4. This was only her second tournament since her incredible run at the US Open in 2021, where she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam. Just two years ago, she was ranked as high as No. 10 in the world.
In her first match of the tournament, Raducanu had defeated American player Shelby Rogers, who is ranked No. 161. She was hoping to make it to the third round at the Australian Open for the first time ever, but unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Wang will now move on to face the 12th seed, Zheng Qinwen.
The 21-year-old put up a valiant fight against Wang, even winning the second set and forcing a decider. However, she appeared to be fatigued and tired in the third set, and even had to take a medical time-out before her exit was confirmed on Show Court 2. This was not entirely unexpected as Raducanu had raised concerns about her fitness before the tournament, and had even pulled out of two warm-up matches.
Despite her struggles, Raducanu had shown promise in her return to the WTA Tour. In her first tournament in nine months, she had a strong showing in Auckland, defeating Elena-Gabriela Ruse and putting up a good fight against second seed Elena Svitolina. Svitolina even compared her to the current world No. 1, Iga Swiatek.
In other news from the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic got into a heated argument with a fan during his match, Katie Boulter, the British No. 1, also suffered a loss in the second round, and British No. 1 Cameron Norrie made it to the third round with a five-set win. Raducanu narrowly avoided having to qualify for the tournament thanks to her protected ranking, as many of her fellow stars withdrew from the event.
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