Laura Robson saw some major inconsistencies in Emma Raducanu's tactics against Elena Rybakina as the former British tennis star and Sky Sports analyst believes the 22-year-old simply "was not committed tactically" to what she was supposed to do against the 2022 Wimbledon champion.
In what was expected to be one of the best third-round matches in the women's draw, it ended up being one of the most one-sided clashes after Rybakina made very light work of Raducanu 6-1 6-2. Just by looking at the scoreline, it is not hard to figure out that the Kazakh was all over the Briton from start to finish – the No. 9 seed claimed two breaks in each set, all while not facing a single break point.
What's stunning and disappointing about the Raducanu display is the fact that she entered the Rybakina match playing some of her best tennis of the year – she defeated Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-2 before ousting Janice Tjen 6-2 6-1. But instead of delivering another great performance and possibly clinching her fourth top-10 win, the 22-year-old was always on her back foot and finished the match with 18 unforced errors.
Robson: Raducanu wasn't committed tactically and it gave Rybakina this easy rhythm to work with
“Rybakina has played a great match there. In terms of her groundstrokes, she was playing so freely, going for her shots. She was never rushed, that was the big thing that stood out. Raducanu wasn’t committed tactically. At times it looked like she was trying to hit big, but then the next point she’d take half a step back. It gave Rybakina this easy rhythm to work with, and she was just able to put so much pressure on Raducanu," former world No. 27 Robson said on Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, Raducanu herself admitted after the match that pretty much anything didn't work in her game.
