Despite her astonishing 2021 US Open victory, the Bromley-based sensation hasn’t won a match in New York since. She was taken down 6-1 3-6 6-4 by American Sofia Kenin this time around.
Her title defence crumbled after just one match when she was ousted in straight sets during the opening round last year, and an injury barred her from the previous year’s competition.
Although Raducanu, who never lost a set in the 10 matches that led to her 2021 win as a qualifier, did secure a set on the Grandstand court, bringing the match to a tense one-set stand-off.
The critical juncture occurred in the third set’s fifth game, where Raducanu went 0-40 down and handed over the break with a double fault. But it was the initial 41-minute set where she succumbed to six straight games after defying a break point in her tension-filled 12-point first service game.
21-year-old Raducanu had not long ago bagged her best Grand Slam lead-up result since her epic US Open triumph by reaching Wimbledon’s fourth round but has competed sparingly since, opting out of qualifiers in Toronto and Cincinnati.
“I was maybe a bit slow starting,” she admitted. “Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play, a little bit more before coming into the US Open.”
“You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good. You feel like everything’s automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it. And you know my manage my schedule slightly differently.”
After a tough period that saw her grappling with form and enduring an eight-match losing streak earlier this season, Kenin, who won the 2020 Australian Open, is looking to bounce back. Her journey hasn’t been smooth, with first-round exits at Eastbourne, Wimbledon, Washington, and Toronto, but she finally broke through with a win in Cleveland since her last victory at Roland Garros.
