When Emma Raducanu returned to the venue of her extraordinary out-of-nowhere run to the 2021 US Open title, she laughed at the thought that there may be any pressure on her. Perhaps she was just attempting to minimise people’ expectations or make things easier on herself. Sure sounded that way when she spoke, just before the game at Flushing Meadows got underway:
I think defending a title is just something that the press makes up.
Emma Raducanu
In any case, her subsequent visit to New York was brief. When Raducanu lost to Alizé Cornet 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday (August 30) night, she became just the third woman in the professional era to fall in the first round one year after winning the US Open title.
At the age of 18, Raducanu travelled to Flushing Meadows with a ranking of 150th to compete in just her second major championship. She eventually made it through qualifying and defeated another unseeded youngster, Leylah Fernandez, in the final to become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam championship.
Since then, Raducanu has had a record of 15–19, losing in the second round of each of the first three big tournaments of 2022. At the US Open, she had the 11th-seed.
Cornet is competing in her record-breaking 63rd straight Grand Slam tournament and is currently rated 40th. She has only advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open this year. However, she has six wins this season over opponents that are rated in the top 20.
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