‘The target is off my back’ – Emma Raducanu crashes out of US Open in first round to Alize Cornet but teenager looks to positives

Emma Raducanu looked to the positives after her US Open title defence ending in a first round defeat.

The 2021 winner was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Alize Cornet on the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

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It was a far cry from the scenes of 12 months ago when she blitzed her way to the title after coming through qualifying.

There were plenty of unforced errors in her display against a tough first round opponent, who knocked out world number one Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon.

There was also a sense of relief for Raducanu as she admitted the 'target is off my back' and can now focus on climbing the rankings again.

"Obviously it's really disappointing, I'm really sad to leave here. It's probably my favourite tournament," she said after the match.

"But also in a way I'm happy because it's a clean slate. I'm going to drop down the rankings. Climb my way back up. The target will be off my back slightly.

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"I've been doing some really good work in the last six weeks especially. I'm just looking forward to putting more of those weeks together consistently, then we'll see what happens.

"With perspective, actually as a 19-year-old, I've had not a bad year. To be top 100, if you told me that a year ago, I'd take it."

Raducanu admitted she found the conditions tricky, saying: "It was quite windy. It was quite difficult for me, especially to find my ball toss. I think I was hitting quite a lot of serves long. I just struggled to adapt to it really.

"It's something that both players have to deal with. She just dealt with it better than me today."

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The 19-year-old again struggled with blisters, taking a medical time-out to have her finger taped at the end of the opening set.

"I've been getting some blisters throughout the weeks in the States," she said. "But I think that's just down to humidity and stuff. I got a new one. But you tape it up and move on it. It's a blister. Not much you can do about it."