- British No.1 player Emma Raducanu has been eliminated from the Australian Open
- Raducanu lost to American player Coco Gauff
- Raducanu performed admirably against the seventh-seeded American
British No.1 player Emma Raducanu has been eliminated from the Australian Open 2023 after falling to Coco Gauff in a thrilling second-round encounter.
The world No. 77th-ranked Raducanu performed admirably against the seventh-seeded American, but her lack of tennis wit cost her the match, 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
Before the Melbourne major, the 20-year-old had been battling an ankle issue. Raducanu’s defeat means she has not advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam since her surprising US Open victory in 2021.
A different result might have occurred if she had been able to convert one of her two set points at 5-4 in the second set, which would have necessitated a deciding set.
Emma Raducanu. Photo/talkSPort
Gauff, notably advanced to the Wimbledon round of 16 at the age of 15 in 2019. She is one of the front-runners at Melbourne Park to win the championship.
The 18-year-old Gauff said she summed up courage to stay strong because Raducanu played well. Gauff further described the match as solid but anxious as the crowd eagerly waited for them to start playing.
Gauff, pursuing her maiden Grand Slam victory, will take on either Bernarda Pera of America or Qinwen Zheng of China in the third round on Friday.
After suffering an ankle injury in Auckland 13 days prior, Raducanu acknowledged that it had been a “huge achievement” for her to be on the court at Melbourne Park this week.
She had to withdraw from the match against Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia due to rolling her left ankle, and Raducanu broke down in tears as she exited the court.
She claimed that she had total faith in her ankle before her initial match against Tamara Korpatsch of Germany, but she knew that Gauff would test her movement more.
The problem did not seem to be a factor as Raducanu competed head-to-head with the French Open champion in a contest full of fierce baseline rallies.
British teen player Emma Raducanu. Photo by Tennis Majors
As the game progressed, Raducanu’s confidence soared. He played aggressively and pinned Gauff back with her forceful and precise groundstrokes.
She did, however, suffer from a lack of playing time, as several errant shots let Gauff off the hook at crucial times. One was when the British player lost those two set chances through unwitty play.
Even if losing is painful, Raducanu will definitely remember this performance with pride and optimism for the future.
Following the outing of the Australian Open 2023 draw last week, all focus went to this prospective match-up, and the showdown between two of the sport’s most intriguing prospects did not disappoint.
Both players made many mistakes, nonetheless, but it was a fun game with a lot of quality that impressed many fans.
Although Raducanu has more experience and is younger than Gauff, Gauff is eager to add this season to her list of accomplishments because Raducanu is a major champion.
The prospect of this battle was so enticing because of that.
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