Emma Raducanu has been told that she “wasn’t committed tactically” during her bruising 62-minute defeat at the US Open. The British No. 1 was dismantled by former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who sealed a 6-1 6-2 victory to reach the second week in Flushing Meadows for the first time in her career.
It was a reversal of fortunes for the 2021 US Open champion, who dropped just six games across her first two matches. But Laura Robson believes Raducanu’s tactics let her down in Friday’s disappointing performance.
“Rybakina played a great match there. In terms of groundstrokes, she was just playing so freely, she was going for her shots, but she was never rushed,” the retired British tennis ace told Sky Sports.
“I think that was the big thing that stood out to us courtside for that one, so Rybakina was able to get away with less of a first serve percentage than she’s had in her first two matches. I think Raducanu just wasn’t committed tactically, going one way or the other.
“It felt like, at times, she was trying to hit big but then the next point she would take half a step back, and so it just gave Rybakina this easy rhythm to work with, and she was just able to put so much pressure, especially with her forehand going crosscourt and then opening up the lines. Being the first player to get that first strike in just makes a huge difference.”
Raducanu has been putting in the hard yards on the practice courts with her new coach, Francisco Roig. The Brit hired Rafael Nadal’s former mentor ahead of the Cincinnati Open, and they have already seen results.
But their game plan was off on Friday, and Robson believed Raducanu waited too long to change her tactics.
She added: “I totally agree that Rybakina was hitting her spots but I think earlier in the match, we saw Raducanu trying to go too much through the middle of the court with the return, and against Rybakina, you have to get her on the stretch, she’s so comfortable soaking that pace up.
“I feel like we saw this kind of point over and over again, so I think just tactically, Emma made the change too late in the game. We saw her go a little bit further back in the return position towards the end of the match but it felt like Rybakina was in such a rhythm at that point.”
While Robson thought Raducanu didn’t do enough to pick holes in Rybakina’s game, the No. 9 seed admitted it was tough facing the former champion – even if the score didn’t show it.
She told the fans on the Louis Armstrong Stadium: “Really happy with the performance. It’s always not easy to play against Emma, even sometimes the score doesn’t show, but she’s a tough competitor.”
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