Australian Open 2026: Emma Raducanu wants to bring 'more of her identity on court’ after second round exit
• 3 minute read
Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open campaign was brought to an end in the second round after a ‘difficult’ match against world No.55 Anastasia Potapova.
The Austrian seemed to deal better in the windy conditions as she knocked out the British No.1 7-6(3), 6-2 in an hour and 33 minutes.
“I thought it was a very difficult match with the conditions in the first set,” Raducanu said after the match. “I thought it was tricky trying to get used to how lively it felt out there. The wind was pretty strong from one side, so just not something that I felt too comfortable with.
“I didn't feel like I dealt with it particularly well. But credit to her. She found a better solution in the first set, and then really played better, I thought, in the second.”
Despite the disappointment, Raducanu did have her chances, missing out on the opportunity to serve out the opening set with the lead at 5-4.
The Brit’s struggles on serve proved her downfall throughout the match, managing to win just 45% (26/60) points when serving.
The former US Open champion was broken three times in both sets as Potapova booked her place in the third round against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
While the result and performance were disappointing for Raducanu, the British star is taking positives from her journey to this point in the season.
Having finished 2025 dealing with a foot injury which then continued into the early part of the Australian swing, Raducanu has been encouraged by the amount of time she’s managed to get on the match court – especially in a dominant first round win over Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
“I don't want to give myself too much of a hard time, because I know my preparation going into this tournament, she said. “I kind of have to leave with my head held high because of the matches I've had here. I didn't even know at the beginning if I would be coming to Australia, so it's a positive in that sense.
“If you would have told me I would have played, you know, four, five matches in Australia regardless of how they went, I think from a physical perspective, it would have been pretty surprising.
“I think with each one I did get better, except today, but I think having to learn and having to get the feel through matches is something that's really difficult.”
Raducanu has also spent a lot of time working on developing parts her game, which for any player can be a challenging process.
Whilst also dealing with injury, Raducanu admitted that while she wasn’t able to play the way that she wanted on the day, but that she’s on the right path to playing the style of tennis she wants to bring to the court.
“I think I want to be playing a different way,” she commented. “I think the misalignment with how I'm playing right now and how I want to be playing is something that I want to work on.
“I think there are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play, and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive, and maybe more than certain times in my career in the last few years.
“It's not going to fall into place straight away, but the more I work on how I want to be playing, it will be more of my identity every time I step onto the court. I need to work at that, but it's not going to happen overnight.”
Following her second round exit in Melbourne, Raducanu said that she’ll now take some time to reflect before gearing up for her next event in a few weeks’ time.
“I don't think I'm going to get straight back on the practice court. I think I'm going to take a few days, get back, get back home, and try and just re-evaluate my game a bit.
“Right now I'm signed up to play in Cluj, so hopefully I make it there.”
