US Open 2022: Defending champion Emma Raducanu loses in first round

SPORTS

By : Quick Insurance Guru

Tuesday, 30 August 2022

NEW YORK -- Emma Raducanu's US Open defence came to an end in the first round as she lost to Alize Cornet in straight sets on Tuesday.

Raducanu stunned the sporting world last year when she went from qualifier to winner of the women's singles in an incredible fortnight in New York.

But she came unstuck against Cornet, who was playing in her 63rd straight Grand Slam. Cornet defeated Raducanu 6-3, 6-3 in 1hr 42 minutes.

It was a match in which both players struggled to hold serve in blustery conditions on Louis Armstrong, and there were five breaks of serve in the first set.

"I think it was quite windy," Raducanu said. "It was blowing, like, from back-to-front. It was quite difficult for me especially to find my ball toss.

"And, I mean, it's something that both players have to kind of deal with. She just dealt with it better than me today."

Cornet and Raducanu exchanged breaks at the start of the second set but the key spell came in the seventh game, when Cornet broke Raducanu's serve to go 4-3 up.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm proud for putting myself out there every match, every day. Like I know I'm pushing myself to be the best I can."

"From, like, Rome to a bit after Wimbledon, I only played tennis for, like, 14 days in two months and a half or something. It was pretty wild.

"I think the most important thing for me is just consistency of these weeks, of training, of competing. You lose a match, you're on the practice court like two days later or something.