Emma Raducanu's Australian Open run has once again ended early after the Briton sprayed 29 unforced errors in a 6-7 (3) 2-6 second-round loss to Anastasia Potapova.
With a chance to make the third round at Melbourne Park for only the second time in her career, the 28th-seeded Briton actually made a decent start and went 5-3 up early.
But from that moment on, Raducanu's level collapsed as the 2021 US Open champion failed to serve out for the opening set before also easily losing the tie-break.
It wasn't hard for Potapova to complete a two-set win after taking the opener as the world No. 55 registered three breaks in the second set.
Although Raducanu claimed four breaks, that wasn't much of a help, considering that she struggled on her serve throughout the entire match – Potapova earned a total of eight break points and impressively converted six.
Now, the 23-year-old Briton has five second-round exits at the Australian Open and remains without a second-week appearance at the Happy Slam. Her lone third-round outing in Melbourne came last year, when she was beaten by Iga Swiatek.
Raducanu fails to set up an Aryna Sabalenka match
When the Happy Slam draw was released, one of the possible matches that stuck out as a potential Raducanu and Sabalenka third-round match. However, following the No. 28 seed's upset, that won't be happening.
By exiting early the opening Grand Slam of the year, Raducanu's poor start to 2026 continues as she concluded the Australian swing with a 2-3 record.
On the other side, Potapova continues her Melbourne run after beating the Briton and pulling off an insane first-round comeback against Suzan Lamens – the world No. 55 was 3-6 1-5 down in the first round before winning 3-6 7-5 6-2.
Going into the Australian Open third round, Potapova has a 0-2 head-to-head against Sabalenka.
