S Poddar
Emma Raducanu, champion of the 2021 US Open, gave an emotional speech during a press conference after her first-round exit from the tournament in 2024. The 21-year-old, who had become a name etched in the history books for her performance on the US Open stage, has since found herself struggling through numerous challenges. But after an early exit in 2022 and then being sidelined by injury last year, hopes of a triumphant return for Raducanu were undone by Sofia Kenin on the Grandstand court.
An emotional Raducanu was then asked how she felt following defeat. Her voice cracked as she clearly held back tears before managing to articulate her sadness. “Yeah, I feel down, like I feel sad,” she said. “This is a tournament I really want to do well in.”
The match was full of ups and downs, but a critical service game in the middle of the final set proved costly for Raducanu. She could not regain control despite the best effort; thus, she had to leave the tournament much earlier than expected. Coming out of this tournament, Raducanu reflected on her plans for going back and improving her game. “I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season,” she said. Though she is very much aware that the Grand Slam season is finished, it isn’t as if the Australian Open will not come along pretty soon and afford her another chance to bounce back.
Preparation for this year’s US Open has somewhat questioned Raducanu, especially after she played just one tournament since Wimbledon and passed on the Olympics to focus on the event in New York. She said afterward her preparation probably wasn’t ideal. “I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open,” she explained, adding her game, like most, is better when she has a few more matches under her belt. However, she realized the call was a collective decision and thus said, “It wasn’t just me. It was more of like a collective call and that’s what happened, and I can’t really change it.”
Kenin, the former Australian Open winner, was indeed an opponent to reckon with as she broke Raducanu’s serve three times in the first set. Having wasted three break points in the first set, Raducanu quickly responded in the second by breaking Kenin’s serve. At 2-2, 15-15, a moment of accuracy saw Raducanu hit a backhand winner down the line. That proved to be absolutely key, as with Kenin looking visibly upset, Raducanu took the second set with two magnificent winners.
But the final set was where it would all start to unravel for Raducanu. She was broken in the fifth game, and Kenin made firm strides to close out the match, finally extinguishing the last of Raducanu’s hopes for a deeper run in the tournament’s draw.
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for Raducanu since her US Open win in 2021, blighted by injury and inconsistency. The young Briton is dwelling on this latest setback, yet is determined to learn from her experiences and keep improving her game. Now that the 2024 Grand Slam season is behind her, the work will no doubt start on fine-tuning her approach and building up to the next challenge, which will be the Australian Open in a year’s time.
