Second round situations push Emma Raducanu out of Australian Open
[ad_1]
“I fought so hard just to come out to Australia and play here, and I didn’t want to go out like that. So I just left it all out on the court after everything I went through,” Emma Raducanu explained after her second round loss at the Australian Open.
She was done in by Danka Kovinic who sent her packing as her dreams of going deep at Melbourne had vanished. Raducanu had inner turmoils that she tried not let spoil her experience playing her first slam of the year. The Brit expecred to get matches under her belt as the new season was approaching, but last month some events stopped her participation.
“I was very much looking forward to playing in front of the fans here in Abu Dhabi…after testing positive for COVID-19. I will have to postpone until the next opportunity,” she said sadly. She bowed out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.
She isolated and after three weeks of recuperating, resumed practicing for her upcoming slam. She started being hampered by blisters on her playing hand but never wanted to give up on traveling ‘Down Under’ The 19-year-old Brit’s first round went well as she met up against a former U.S.
Open champion, Sloane Stephens. There wasn’t much issue with blisters during the first round, which Raducanu played aggressive and smart. She denied the former top ranked Stephens any games in the 17 minute set resulting in a 6-0 lead for the Brit.
Stephens got her game together, corrected errors and gave Raducanu a taste of her tactic medicine. Sloane volleyed, passed the Brit crosscourt and leveled the sets 6-0 and 6-2. The deciding set Stephens fizzled. Raducanu took her opportunities and put away the match for a 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 win.
Things didn’t go as planned for the 19-year-old as she crashed with her second round opponent Danka Kovinic from Montenegro. Early in the match Raducanu had to get treatment for her recurring blister problems. She dropped the first set 4-6 and became concerned if she…
[ad_2]
Source : tennisworldusa
