Emma Raducanu stunned by world No.217 in surprise loss days before Aus | Tennis | Sport

British No.1 Emma Raducanu crashed out of the Hobart International on Thursday after losing 6-2, 6-4 to world No.217 Taylah Preston. Raducanu will now head to the Australian Open where the main draw begins on Sunday. 

The Brit was top seed in the WTA 250 event and would have liked her chances of winning a first title since lifting the 2022 US Open. The 23-year-old won her first match of the year on Wednesday during a rain-delayed encounter against world No. 82 Camila Osorio.

Raducanu was then given a bye to the quarter-finals after Magdalena Frech withdrew before their last-16 match. However, she was left stunned by young Aussie star Preston, who had only had one win on the WTA Tour before this week – beating Frech at the 2024 San Diego tournament.

The 20-year-old capitalised on six of her nine break points to secure a straight-sets victory in one hour and 25 minutes. Preston will now play either Magda Linette or Iva Jovic in the semi-finals.

For Raducanu, attention now turns to Melbourne Park where she begins her Aussie Open campaign against Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew. She will then play one of Anastasia Potopova or Suzan Lamens in the second round if she progresses at the first Grand Slam of 2026.

Raducanu would then face the prospect of a clash with world No. 1 and two-time Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka in the third round. Sabalenka begins her campaign against France’s Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah before a second-round meeting with either Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or a qualifier.

Sabalenka and Raducanu faced each other in the third round at Wimbledon last year. The Brit went toe-to-toe with the Belarusian before eventually losing 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Assessing her chances Down Under in an interview with TNT Sports before the draw was made, former British tennis player Tim Henman said: “When I think about Emma Raducanu and her progress from the end of last year into this year, she’s moving in the right direction, but she’s had this problem with her foot.

“To see her out on the match court is exciting. She just played one match at United Cup and I think performed well against Sakkari, but Sakkari played very, very well.

“To me, there’s no question about her tennis ability. So if she builds her fitness, I would like to see her in the second week of the Australian Open. I think that’s realistic.

“Could she win three matches in Melbourne? Definitely. I think if I could sign a contract and she was through to the round of 16, I think that would be a great start to the year.”