Australian Open 2026: Emma Raducanu loses to Anastasia Potapova in the second round

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

“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 every day.

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

“I need to work on it, but it won’t happen overnight.”

While Raducanu improved to defeat 197th-ranked Mananchaya Sawangkayo in the first round, she looked immature against Potapova.

Potapova, who was born in Russia, made many mistakes in a poor first set, which began with her breaking her opponent’s serve five times before Raducanu withdrew.

Raducanu served in the first set at 5-4, but was broken by Potapova, who quickly withdrew in the tie-break.

After Potapova took a long break at the end of the set, she started fast in the second set, breaking her serve twice to take a 3-0 lead.

The pair traded breaks before Potapova asserted her authority and cruised to victory, with the defeated Raducano hurriedly exiting.

All eyes were inevitably on the potential encounter with Sabalenka, but this loss was a sharp reminder of the level Raducano has reached.

Meanwhile, British qualifier Arthur Ferry defeated Argentine Thomas Martin Echeverry 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-3 in the men’s second round.