The 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu misplaced her likelihood to defend her title, as France’s Alizé Cornet upset the British star in straight units 6–3, 6–3 within the first spherical on Tuesday night time.
The World No. 40 has grow to be one thing of a giant-killer this 12 months, as she additionally beat World No. 1 Iga Świątek at Wimbledon. That win ended Świątek’s 37-match win streak.
Cornet ran away with the primary set with ease, however Raducanu got here storming again and took a 3–1 lead within the second. Nevertheless, Cornet bounced again and cruised to win 5 straight video games to complete off the victory.
With Tuesday’s loss, Raducanu turns into the third lady in U.S. Open historical past to lose her opening match within the 12 months after profitable the title. Beforehand, this occurred to 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and ‘16 champion Angelique Kerber.
The 19-year-old struggled with blisters on her proper hand all through the match. She even known as for a medical timeout in the course of the first set so she might have a coach have a look at her hand.
This isn’t the primary time this 12 months Raducanu has handled blisters on her proper hand—she additionally handled them throughout her 2022 Australian Open second-round loss.
The British star made historical past finally 12 months’s U.S. Open when she grew to become the primary lady to win a Grand Slam title after reaching the match by means of qualifiers. Nevertheless, she’ll have to get again to the drafting board after what was one other disappointing end result at one of many world’s greatest tournaments.
Extra Tennis Protection:
