The 21-year-old tennis prodigy was the last British woman standing in the women’s singles draw at Eastbourne following quarter-final defeats for Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart.
But the 2021 US Open champion was overwhelmed in a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to fourth seed Daria Kasatkina, 27, on Thursday (27.06.24), ending hopes of a win on home turf.
It marked Raducanu’s final tournament outing before Wimbledon, and despite her Eastbourne defeat she is staying upbeat about her chances in the Grand Slam at the All England Club, which kicks off on Monday. (01.07.24)
She told EuroSport: “I think I should be very confident. I feel like I have every right to be in the position that I am now, because I have been training, I have been working for it.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m very happy to be back in London. It’s where I call home. It’s where I missed last year so much.”
Raducanu has made an encouraging start to the grass-court swing, reaching her first semi-final of the season against Katie Boulter, 27, in Nottingham before her strong run in Eastbourne.
Her knock-out Eastbourne saw Kasatkina race to a straight-sets victory in one hour and 21 minutes.
Raducanu was broken twice in the opening set and failed to earn a single break point against the Russian, who won 100 per cent of her first-serve points.
A messier second set saw Raducanu break twice, but Kasatkina’s four breaks of serve sent her on the way to a comfortable win.
Raducanu went the distance in a three-set comeback against Jessica Pegula, 30, a day earlier, but blamed nobody but herself following the defeat.
She said: “I wasn’t tired at all. I was feeling really good,” she said.
“I think I just dealt with the circumstances badly. I was very inflexible in my approach. That’s my honest reflection of the match. But physically I’m in a really good spot. I’m fine.
“I just need to learn to be more willing to adapt. I hadn’t really played many matches in that level of wind.
“Daria actually plays really good in those conditions, because she makes it very awkward for the opponent. I just think she handled it a lot better.”
