Emma Raducanu must maintain her intensity levels for longer if she is to challenge top players, says Laura Robson.
Raducanu won only a single game against second seed Iga Swiatek as she lost 11 in a row in a 6-1 6-0 hammering in the third round of the Australian Open on Rod Laver Arena.
The 22-year-old had come into the tournament with no warm-up matches following a back spasm and though she said there were “no excuses” when it came to her physical preparation, Robson found positives in the heavy defeat.
“The positives were that Raducanu was moving well and when she was able to stay in the rally, she was able to put together some good points, but the difference for me was in the intensity of the two of them,” said Sky Sports’ tennis pundit Robson on Eurosport.
“In a way, it will be a learning curve for Raducanu.
“If she wants to challenge these top players then she needs to play with intensity for longer and this is what she knows already.
“Raducanu will be the first one to say it’s about getting matches and tournaments under her belt because when you step up to this level, Swiatek has played so many third rounds of Grand Slams that she was comfortable, and it was so evident from the first point in the match.
“The footwork and sharpness were there every time she stepped up to the line, and if you’re not used to that rhythm, pace, or power then it’s very hard.”
The defeat to Swiatek equalled Raducanu’s heaviest career loss – suffered to Elena Rybakina at a WTA Tour event in Sydney three years ago.
Swiatek played 69 WTA main-draw matches in 2024 while Raducanu won 20 of the 33 matches she featured in and this difference was evident on court.
“Swiatek just knows what to do on the more important points,” Robson added.
“She was able to step it up another gear, whereas Raducanu, who hadn’t played in a tournament coming into this match and played two very different opponents in the first two rounds, gave her a lot of unforced errors to work with.
“Swiatek gave her absolutely nothing to work with and such a good front-runner.”
Following her defeat, Raducanu was proud of how she handled the occasion despite the scoreline and is eager to get straight back to work, with her next tournament scheduled to be in Singapore in just over a week – live on Sky Sports Tennis.
She also highlighted her serve as the key area she needs to work on if she is to get closer to the top players after being broken 16 times in six sets and hitting 24 double faults.
“Throughout the match, we saw Raducanu sit back behind the baseline and she was trying to do something different but it’s tough to continue to turn the point around,” Robson added.
“She would have pushed her preparations getting ready for this but Swaitek did well because for me she played a near-perfect match.
“She was serving almost exclusively to Radcanu’s backhand and it was just the same point over and over again.”
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina will join Swiatek in the last 16.
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