Tennis
US Open 2024 results: Emma Raducanu out in first round after defeat by Sofia Kenin
Having opted to skip this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, Raducanu also missed WTA 1,000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati in the lead-up to the US Open
Raducanu admitted afterwards that she lacked some match sharpness against Kenin.
“I got off to a bit of a slow start, but did really well to fight back in sets two and three and there wasn’t much in it,” Raducanu said.
“I think I worked my way into the match pretty well, but at this level you can’t really afford to have a slow start of the set and start from a set down.
“I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything’s automatic.
“I can learn from it and manage my schedule slightly differently.”
After an injury-plagued 2023, Raducanu returned to the tour in January and reached the second round of the Australian Open.
She skipped the clay-court French Open to focus on being fit for the British grass season – a decision that seemed to have paid off when she made an impressive run to the Wimbledon fourth round.
“I think I’ve made progress considering where I was at the start of the year – I didn’t play for seven months,” the world number 71 added.
“I had a month of December training after three surgeries so I think to climb back into the top 100 was a really good achievement.”