Australian Open 2026: Emma Raducanu loses in second round – what went wrong?

Raducanu made encouraging progress last year, climbing back into the world’s top 30 and playing more matches than in any previous season of her career.

However, the off-season technical work she planned to put in with coach Francisco Roig – who helped Rafael Nadal win 16 of his 22 major titles – was compromised by a foot injury.

When Raducanu returned in 2026, a tweak to her forehand – a higher and longer takeback, designed to add more spin – was clear.

But she seemed to lack trust in the shot against Potapova, landing 70% of her forehand returns in – compared to 96% from her opponent – and making 19 unforced errors off that wing.

“I want to be playing a different way. The misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on,” Raducanu said.

“There are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play, and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive. But it’s not how I want to be consistently.

“It’s not going to fall into place straight away, but the more I work on how I want to be playing, it will be more of my identity every time I step onto the court.”