Australian Open 2025 results: Emma Raducanu thrashed by Iga Swiatek in Melbourne
While Raducanu and Swiatek both won Grand Slam titles as teenagers, their careers have followed very different paths since.
Raducanu famously won the 2021 US Open title as an 18-year-old qualifier but struggled with the spotlight on her afterwards.
The rigours of playing full-time on the WTA Tour also took its toll.
A series of injuries culminated in wrist and ankle surgeries in 2023, with Raducanu still finding her way back after dropping out of the world’s top 300.
Swiatek, however, continued to thrive after winning the 2020 French Open.
She has become dominant at Roland Garros, having won the title there for the past three years, and also claimed the US Open trophy in 2022.
Swiatek has won all four of her meetings with Raducanu – and the gulf between the pair is stark.
Raducanu was unable to cope with Swiatek’s top spin-heavy groundstrokes and athleticism, making a host of errors from the baseline as the pressure told on her backhand in particular.
Losing serve early was a fatal blow against a superb front-runner like Swiatek, who went on to secure the 78th ‘bagel’ of her tour-level career.
“The scoreline was obviously quite harsh,” said Raducanu.
“I’m very clear on what happened out there. If I’m not necessarily able to hold my service games or dictate, I feel like it seeps into the rest of my game.
“On my second serves, how the point is structured from then on, and in the return games, you feel a lot more pressure.
“That was probably a big aspect today.”
