Emma Raducanu battles illness in thrilling three-set defeat to Wang Yafan in Australian Open second round
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Updated 18/01/2024 at 12:03 GMT
It was an Emma Raducanu rollercoaster at the Australian Open as the Brit battled illness and the wind as she lost in three sets to Wang Yafan in the second round. Raducanu visibly struggled with sickness in the deciding set, having her blood pressure taken by the trainer, and could not cut out the unforced errors as Wang secured another scalp after also knocking out 22nd seed Sorana Cirstea.
Raducanu suffers painful defeat to Wang in second round - Australian Open highlights
Emma Raducanu bowed out of the 2024 Australian Open at the second hurdle after losing a thrilling three-set battle with Wang Yafan.
The 2021 US Open champion had threatened to stage a magnificent recovery after fighting back from a break down in the second set to force a decider, but she struggled with sickness as the match wore on and was visibly retching between points.
She had opportunities to claw her way back into the third set after surrendering another early break, but some untimely unforced errors saw her succumb 6-4 4-6 6-4 to the world No. 94.
The Brits took over the 1573 Arena on day five in Melbourne as Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter served as the warm-up acts for Raducanu. Norrie needed five sets, and some timely rain delays, to see off Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri, while Boulter lost to 12th seed Qinwen Zheng to end hopes of an all-British third round clash with Raducanu.
Instead, an all-Chinese affair looked likely when Wang seized the early initiative and broke to lead 3-1.
Raducanu was struggling with the wind swirling inside the stadium and was soon 5-2 behind as her opponent dominated the baseline exchanges. Although Raducanu grabbed one of the breaks back, Wang served out the set to love at the next opportunity.
The pattern continued at the start of the second set as Wang painted the lines and Raducanu's unforced error count racked up, with the former breaking immediately before carving out two more opportunities at 2-0 15-40.
Finally, the Raducanu forehand came alive. The 21-year-old wriggled out of trouble, then started to examine her opponent's service game. She needed five bites at break point but she eventually made the breakthrough to level at 2-2.
Raducanu was starting to dictate from their baseline, evidenced by a "forehand with flames on it" – as called by Eurosport commentator Peter Odgers – at 3-3.
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'That forehand had flames on it!' - Raducanu finds her range in second set
An epic backhand exchange teed up another fizzing forehand winner as Raducanu broke again to lead 5-3. She blew the first two set points on her serve as Wang broke back, but she hung in her rival's next service game and got another break, and the set, after some more powerful hitting.
A lengthy break before the third set appeared to unsettle Raducanu, who was again broken at the start after a sloppy service game from 30-0.
She created three break-back opportunities in the next – and although she would have been frustrated to see them vanish, she had bigger concerns as the trainer was summoned.
Raducanu, who appeared to be struggling with sickness, had her blood pressure taken before beginning her next service game in ominous fashion as she slipped to 0-40.
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Raducanu calls for the trainer as she begins to struggle in gruelling battle
But despite retching in between points, Raducanu mounted a rousing escape to keep the deficit at a single break. Suddenly, Raducanu was back on the front foot again and was 15-40 up on Wang's serve.
What followed was an extraordinary 10-minute game as Raducanu pushed herself to the limit and Wang refused to relent. Four break points came and went as Raducanu married winners with unforced errors and Wang somehow held, with the lung-busting rallies forcing the Brit to bury her head in a towel between points.
Wang followed up two much more comfortable holds to move 5-3 ahead, then profited from some untimely gifts from her opponent as she served for the match to sneak home.
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