Emma Raducanu admitted she will “re-evaluate” her game as she wants “to be playing a different way” after her second round exit at the 2026 Australian Open.
The world No 29 fell 6-7(3), 2-6 to 55th-ranked Anastasia Potapova at the Melbourne Grand Slam after she held a 5-3 lead in the opening set.
Here is everything Raducanu said in a candid Australian Open press conference.
Q. What were the challenges of playing her?
Raducanu: I thought it was a very difficult match with the conditions in the first set. I thought it was tricky trying to get used to how lively it felt out there and also the wind was pretty strong from one side, so just not something I felt too comfortable with. Didn’t feel like I dealt with it particularly well, and even so, I still had some chances in the first set, but yeah, nevertheless, just one of those days you don’t feel too good on the court. But credit to her, she found a better solution in the first set and then really played better I thought in the second.
Q. How much of a factor do you think it was not having had the preparation you wanted or having had the matches, when you go out there in playing conditions that are a bit tricky?
Raducanu: Yeah, I think it’s a factor. I don’t wanna give myself too much of a hard time because I know my preparation going into this tournament. I kind of have to leave with my head held high because of the matches I’ve had here. I didn’t even know at the beginning if I would be coming to Australia, so it’s a positive in that sense. And I think playing at different times is also another challenge, playing at night compared to day, the conditions are very different. Yeah, just hadn’t really played in these kind of conditions in a minute, so didn’t deal with it very well today.
Q. Are you thinking about technique at all when you’re on the court, or was that a factor?
Raducanu: I think when you’re on the court, I’m not trying to think about any particular technique because even if I feel a particular way about a certain shot, it’s not the time to go into it, it’s like regardless of how you feel, you just have to try and buckle down and fight with what you have, whether it’s good or bad, just try and tough out any point however it is. But of course, there are certain shots that you don’t feel as comfortable with, and it’s just emphasised in the heat of the day.
Q. You mentioned you had chances and obviously you were up 5-3 in the first set, how did you feel at that point and what changed towards the end of the set?
Raducanu: Yeah, I mean even if I was up 5-3, I didn’t feel very good out there in terms of I was hitting the ball good or anything. It was a matter of, I put an extra ball in the court than she did. She was definitely going for more and I think in the second set, her shots were landing and mine were missing by a few inches here and there. Yeah, it was one of those, you’re 5-3 but you’re not feeling particularly good and you’re trying to just like tough out every point, scrap, but it’s not the way that I really want to be playing. It got me in the lead, I just didn’t feel like I could scrap the whole match.
Q. What’s next for you after this? How are you going to try and recharge? Are you going to get straight back on the practice court?
Raducanu: I don’t think I’m gonna get straight back on the practice court. I think I’m gonna take a few days, get back, get back home and try and just re-evaluate my game a bit. Right now, I’m signed up to play in Cluj, so hopefully I make it there and it would be good to return to my Dad’s home country. And I haven’t been back in a few years, so that would be a nice opportunity if I get it.
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Q. When you say re-evaluate your game, do you mean more than just today, like kind of in general?
Raducanu: I think just, yeah, reassess the aspects of my game, just watch it back, see where I can improve. What I’ve been feeling and also what is visually apparent. So just combining those two and working on the things, and I definitely want to feel better on certain shots before I start playing again. So for me that’s more of a priority than getting back onto the match court.
Q. When things aren’t going your way, there seems to be little interaction between you and Francis and the team, you seem to be keeping it all internal, can you tell us a little bit about what is going through your mind in those tough moments in matches?
Raducanu: Yeah, I think I’ve just realised over time that the best way for me to deal with tricky situations is to find the answers from within. I feel like when I look over and if I’m questioning something or asking it’s more just putting negativity when I know the answer inside, really. So for me, that’s just what seems to work the best, rather than trying to search for answers. At the end of the day, I think I know what I’m doing and what’s happening, so I just try and figure things out more on my own.
Q. When you go back to when you first landed in Australia for United Cup to where you are now, how much progress have you made in that time? And if you told yourself on January 1 that you’d be at this point, is it still a positive for you?
Raducanu: Yeah, I would say so. I would say 1st of Jan when I came out here, I hadn’t moved, I hadn’t even done a two cross, one line drill, I hadn’t moved from my half of the court. So if you would have told me I would have played four matches, five matches in Australia, regardless of how they went, from a physical perspective, it would have been pretty surprising. I think with each one I did get better, except today. But I think having to learn and having to get the feel through matches is something that’s really difficult and not something that I really want to be doing, but because it’s a Grand Slam, you feel like you can’t or you don’t want to miss out. So I don’t regret the decision because I got to come and play a Slam here, and even if I wasn’t very ready, I think I had a good three weeks Down Under, on and off the court. I need to take it for what it is, be pragmatic and go back and just keep working and the season’s still quite long. Hopefully if I stay healthy, do the right things, then it will start falling into place.
Q. When you talk about re-evaluating your game, do you feel like you’re not playing the style of play you want to play?
Raducanu: Yeah, I would say so, I think I want to be playing a different way. And I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something that I just want to work on. I think there are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play, and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive, and maybe more than certain times in my career in the last few years. But it’s not how I want to be, like, consistently every day. So 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. So yeah, I need to work at that, but it’s not going to happen overnight.
Q. How is your foot considering it’s been a steep ramp-up from not moving to playing matches?
Raducanu: Yeah, it’s been a steep ramp-up. I’ve been managing it every day, it’s not 100%, but I’ve made peace with that, and it will be good to get everything re-checked now this is over and see how it is, and whether I need to offload it a little bit or not. But physically, I think I’ve actually improved in the last few weeks, even if I’ve been playing more and my load’s gone up, which is a positive. And considering how it was going at the end of last year, I really didn’t know if I was gonna come to Australia, so to be feeling this way after five matches, physically, is a positive.
Q. If someone had said after you won the US Open, your next 13 Grand Slams, you’re only once going to reach the second week, would you have been surprised? Is there something around the Grand Slams you think you need to improve?
Raducanu: I think if you also would have said when I was 18 if I would be winning that night, I don’t think anyone would expect that either, so with that achievement, you’re inevitably going to have the same level of low, it was too high to just be going on so early, so I think I’ve accepted that. All the challenges I’ve faced since and figuring things out and learning by mistakes and learning through experiences, all of those things I think were, in a way, gonna happen when you win a Slam from qualies, ranked 350 in the world like two months before. So I’ve learned a lot, for sure. I think there are just many iterations that are going on and have gone on. I think I’m slowly figuring out what works for me and at the Slams, I think I’m doing better. A few times, I’ve had really tough draws as well, last year. But yeah, I think just doing the day to day and improving myself as a player, which I think I’m doing. But yeah, my form those three weeks was unbelievable as well, so it’s a give and take, but I’ve accepted it.
Q. How would you describe the style of tennis you want to be playing and the identity you are aiming to have as a tennis player?
Raducanu: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I just want to hit the ball to the corners and hard. I feel like I’m doing all this variety, and it’s not doing what I want it to do. I need to just work on playing, in a way, more similar to how I was playing when I was younger. I always just changed direction, took the ball early, and went for it. I think I do have the ability to do many things on the court, but I feel like as I’m learning all those skills, it’s like, I need to stick to my guns a bit as well and work on that. So for me, it’s pretty simple.
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