Emma Raducanu held back emotions following her elimination in the first round of the US Open in New York.
The British player, who gained global attention after winning the Grand Slam three years prior, lost to Sofia Kenin in the first round of play on Wednesday morning.
The 21-year-old regained her form this summer by making it to the Wimbledon final 16, but she hasn’t advanced to the quarterfinals of a major tournament since her victory in 2021.
Raducanu chose to concentrate on his hard-court campaign instead of competing at the Olympics in Paris.
But the youngster is still searching for her first US Open win since that magical run at Flushing Meadows three years ago, wiping away tears in her post-match press conference after her early elimination.
‘I feel down, I feel sad. Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in so… after the first set I was outplayed completely and I think I did well to equal it,’ she said.
‘The third set was pretty high-level tennis and I think certain parts of my game in dealing with her speed of shot, dealing with her pace, certain parts I actually executed better than in previous matches.
‘I came across a very in-form opponent, and she played really well.’
Kenin stormed to victory in the opening set of the contest, winning six straight games before Raducanu fought back in the second.
The Briton stumbled again in the decider however, broken in the fifth game after dropping serve with a double fault, allowing her American opponent to see the contest out.
Having missed the Olympics, Raducanu also opted not to take part in WTA events in Toronto and Cincinnati in the lead-up to the US Open.
It meant she had played just one tournament since Wimbledon, admitting admitting match sharpness was an issue.
‘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.’