Emma Raducanu’s fairytale of New York is over

When Emma Raducanu wowed the tennis world by winning the US Open as a qualifier in 2021 the British star played ten matches and did not drop a single set on the way to her maiden grand slam title. Fast forward 12 months, however, there was not going to be another fairytale of New York for the 19-year-old. Raducanu’s title defence ended at the first hurdle after she lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to Alize Cornet in the first round this morning.

The British No.1, seeded 11th, was “out-hustled” and “out-scrapped” by the experienced Frenchwoman, said Jonathan Jurejko on BBC Sport. “Seeing a defending champion knocked out early often feels like a shock, but the reality is that this defeat was not unexpected.”

At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati earlier this month Raducanu recorded “memorable” wins over former world No.1s Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, Jurejko added. But a “series of niggling injuries” and a lack of “consistent performances” have seen her lose 16 of 29 matches this season. The teenager has “found her full-time transition to the WTA Tour a testing one”.

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‘The target will be off my back slightly’

Since beating Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in last year’s US Open final, the scrutiny “has been intense” for Raducanu, said Greg Garber on WTATennis.com. “But it’s a small sample size.” She didn’t play her first WTA main draw until less than 15 months ago.

Raducanu’s defeat at Louis Armstrong Stadium means she will drop from 11th in the world rankings to 79th “at best”, said Tumaini Carayol in The Guardian. It also means she will be unseeded at lower events on the tour and will have to enter the qualifying rounds of the bigger tournaments. “She will now have to build her ranking and status the conventional way.”

Speaking after her loss to world No.40 Cornet at Flushing Meadows, Raducanu said that in a way “the target will be off my back slightly”. While losing in the first round is “obviously really disappointing”, she is also happy because it’s a “clean slate”. With a drop in the rankings coming, she has vowed to “claw my way back up there”.

She knows ‘where she stands now’

The “hunter of 2021” was the “hunted of 2022”, said Steve Tignor on Tennis.com. Raducanu’s “Cinderella phase” may have come to an end, but “maybe that’s not a bad thing”. Although life in the 70s and 80s of the world rankings “will be harder”, it will also be “more realistic” for the Briton. “Knowing she has to improve just to be able to compete in WTA events should be motivating.” She knows “where she stands now” and she also knows “that it’s in her to stand some place much better”.

Raducanu will “always be the teenager who won the US Open from nowhere”, said Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail. She must now “sit down and reflect” on how this experience “can be rationalised as another gradient on the learning curve”. It’s “all part of the apprenticeship” that she is now enduring, “having joined the firm as chief executive officer”.

The “queen of New York” has “reverted to commoner status”, said The Telegraph. She still has her “2.5m Instagram followers” and her “ten endorsement contracts”, but she “no longer has a seat at the table as one of the leading players on the tour”.