Emma Raducanu suffered the joint-heaviest defeat of her career as she was knocked out of the Australian Open in the third round by Iga Swiatek.
Coming into the tournament with a niggling back issue, Raducanu progressed to the third round for the first time in her career after wins against Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova.
However, the Brit was handed a tough challenge against number-two seed Swiatek who took just 70 minutes to wrap up a comprehensive 6-1 6-0 victory on Rod Laver Arena.
Radcuanu struggled with her serve all tournament and lost serve five times in this contest, with the result equalling her worst-ever career loss, a 6-0 6-1 to Elena Rybakina in Sydney three years ago.
‘I think it was a match going into it I knew I had to play really well,’ Raducanu said after her defeat.
‘I think today, credit to Iga, she played good tennis, but I think it was a little bit of her playing well and me not playing so well. That combination is probably not good and resulted in today.
‘The scoreline was obviously quite harsh. I feel like I look back and know exactly what I need to do, and I take it as feedback.’
The 2021 US Open champion has risen back up to World No. 61 but continues to see injuries affect her preparation for key tournaments.
A back spasm forced her pull out of her warm-up event in Auckland and still caused the 22-year-old a number of issues in Melbourne.
Raducanu, however, was not keen to make excuses following her heavy third-round defeat and said she must strive to make key improvements to her serve if she is to compete with the game’s best.
‘I think to be on a tennis court playing matches and competing is something I have to be grateful for,’ Raducanu added.
‘I started hitting when I came here 18 days ago. I have to take a positive that I was able to beat two top opponents in the first two rounds. But I think today, no excuses of the back or physically.
‘I think the thing I want to improve is serving. The first two matches I got away with it against two top players because I was able to defend and move, use the rest of my game.
‘If I’m not necessarily able to hold my service games or dictate, I feel like it seeps into the rest of my game.’
Raducanu’s defeat means that Jack Draper is the sole remaining Brit in the men’s or women’s singles draw after he came through a five-set epic against Aleksandar Vukic to reach the fourth round.
The 15th seed, who reached the US Open semi-finals last year, will now face third seed Carlos Alcaraz for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Swiatek, meanwhile, will take on Germany’s Eva Lys in her fourth-round match.
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