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Jake Michaels, Senior WriterJan 17, 2025, 09:09 PM ET
- Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer. He has been with ESPN since 2013, covering everything from AFL to Formula One, basketball to boxing, and tennis, both in Australia and around the world.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Emma Raducanu‘s Australian Open run came to an abrupt end on Saturday, with the Briton totally outclassed by world No. 2 Iga Swiatek at Rod Laver Arena.
In her first third-round appearance at Melbourne Park, Raducanu struggled to match the firepower of the five-time major winner and committed a plethora of unforced errors as Swiatek coasted to a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory in one hour and 10 minutes.
Swiatek began the match in impressive fashion, winning the first six points and showcasing her trademark hustle and aggression.
Raducanu was able to fight back to hold her first service game, but it was one-way traffic from that point. Swiatek reeled off the next 11 games in quick time to secure her place in the fourth round and send an ominous warning to the rest of the draw.
Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, struggled with her serve throughout the contest. She landed only 58% of first serves, committed four double faults, and was called for a foot fault on three occasions.
The rallies also favoured Swiatek. Raducanu amassed an unforced error tally of 22 to just nine winners, a contrast to Swiatek’s 24 winners and 12 unforced errors.
Swiatek improves to 4-0, and a perfect 8-0 in sets, against Raducanu in her career.
She will face the winner of Eva Lys and Jaqueline Cristian on Monday for a place in the quarterfinals.
