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

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

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

When Raducanu returned in 2026, it was clear that her forehand — a higher and longer bounce, designed to add more spin — had been modified.

But she appeared to lack confidence with her volley against Potapova, as she hit 70% of her forehands into the net – compared to 96% from her opponent – and committed 19 unforced errors from that flank.

“I want to play in a different way,” Raducano said. “The imbalance between the way I play now and the way I want to play is something I want to work on.”

“There are definitely pockets of me playing the way I want to play, and that shows in flashes, which is positive. But that’s not what I want to be consistently.

“It won’t happen right away, but the more I work on improving the way I want to play, the more my identity will become every time I step on the court.”