Australian Open 2025: Emma Raducanu thrashed by Iga Swiatek in Melbourne
2025-01-18
Category: sports

Britain's Emma Raducanu suffered the joint heaviest defeat of her career as second seed Iga Swiatek demonstrated her superiority in a one-sided Australian Open third-round match.Raducanu, 22, was thrashed 6-1 6-0 in a chastening afternoon on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.The world number 61 lost serve five times in a defeat which took just one hour and 10 minutes.It was the second time in her career that she lost with only a game to her name, following a 6-0 6-1 defeat by Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in Sydney three years ago.Raducanu was unable to cope with Swiatek's top spin-heavy groundstrokes and athleticism, making a host of errors from the baseline - particularly on the backhand side - as the pressure told.Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who has never gone past the Melbourne semi-finals, played exceptionally well in a performance which fired another warning to her title rivals.The 23-year-old from Poland has won her opening three matches in straight sets and not dropped a service game."I just enjoyed playing," said Swiatek, who converted five of her 12 break points. "I hit a few shots where I thought 'this is what I practice for'."I felt pretty confident and at the end I could push for even more."Converting all these break points was really important and I'm pleased with that performance."