Emma Raducanu

Defending women's singles champion Emma Raducanu was one of the day's major casualties as the British player lost 6-3 6-3 to unseeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

[Rafael Nadal dropped the first set against Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata](https://www.sportingnews.com/au/tennis/news/rinky-hijikata-us-open-rafael-nadal-australian-wildcard/t6hp5i6mnh3pbhfarnbu2boa) before rallying to win the match in four sets. Climb my way back up. But also, in a way happy because it’s a clean slate.

Cornet was playing in her consecutive 63rd grand slam while Raducanu in only her fifth main draw, and although she had never lost in the first round, the ...

The theme of inconsistency though continued, even as the roof shut to keep out the incoming rain. Service holds were the exception rather than the rule, and Cornet’s all-round game began to shine through. She had zip in her game, particularly her forehand, the shot which did so much damage here last year. At least the wind was an issue for both players. The weather did not help either. It was not a performance that had much crossover with this 10 wins 12 months ago either.

Britain's Emma Raducanu has reflected upon her "really disappointing, really sad" first-round defeat to Alize Cornet at the US Open.

I should definitely keep the drop shot in my game." I think my game at the net was pretty good too. I think the rest of the year is that. But I just hung in there and I was fighting my heart out so super happy. But 14 points of 15 won at the net was pretty good. She's a great player and a great person so I'm sorry I beat her tonight," she said in her on-court interview. "I'm really happy about my performance. In a way, I've kind of done that so I want another tournament. "It doesn't really matter what it is. She is also pleased to now have a "clean slate" ahead of next year. For Cornet, though, the opportunity to cause a big result in her record-breaking 63rd consecutive major appearance was a sizeable one. But I kind of want new experiences.

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander has given his reaction to defending champion Emma Raducanu suffering a first-round defeat to Alize Cornet at the US Open.

She is also pleased to now have a "clean slate" ahead of next year. "Right now, she's sort of in between aggressive and not being really aggressive, and I think she can be aggressive and she has more confidence. In fact, I think this is a very, very important step in her career that defending this title is over and she can now focus on her tennis, and trying to get her ranking up in a normal way, rather than just rise completely to the top. "I'm very excited to see her continue and push forwards because I do think that she seems like a great person. Let's work and figure out what it is that makes her happy in terms of how she plays, and then this is how she’s going to end up playing. Or does she use her movement skills, and dial back a little bit and play with a little bit of variation? She's obviously the biggest thing that happened in British sports in a long, long, long time, for the women's side and on the men's side, too. Hopefully, she can hang on to [current coach] Dmitry Tursunov for a little longer than a few months because I think that is important too. She had a lot of confidence last year, and she is a fighter, and she plays well. "She started off well in the second set, that is when I thought she was going to turn it around. "I don't see much of a difference from Emma this year compared to last year, except she was just confident and other players were scared to play her. "It looked to me like she was playing OK," Wilander said on Eurosport.

EMMA RADUCANU crashed out of the US Open at the first hurdle early on Wednesday morning.

Of course, we’re always going to try and make improvements, but I think that’s the one part where I’m a little confused." Wilander has since insisted that Raducanu needs to nail down her playing identity in order to bounce back at future Grand Slams and follow through on the promise shown during her incredible run to US Open glory a year ago. Raducanu was beaten by Alize Cornet in straight sets early on Wednesday morning to put her Flushing Meadows title defence to a premature end in spite of her best efforts.

Rafael Nadal marked his first match at Flushing Meadows in three years by coming from a set down to beat Rinky Hijikata, while Naomi Osaka and Venus Williams ...

[News](https://www.tennis365.com/category/news/) [US Open](https://www.tennis365.com/category/us-open/) Joao Sousa (POR) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 Alexei Popyrin (AUS) bt Chun Hsin Tseng (TAI) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3) After coming through qualifying, 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova clinched her first main draw grand slam victory on Tuesday. Serena Williams is not the only player heading into retirement.

There will be a new champion at the U.S. Open this year. Defending champion Emma Raducanu lost to Alize Cornet of France in the first round.

Now when I have to serve for the match, I try to stay in the moment. 13 Jelena Ostapenko in the second round at the French Open and No. 15 Simona Halep in the fourth round at the Australian Open. I think about what I have to do. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round at Wimbledon, No. “I guess I’m getting old, I’m getting more mature.