Emma Raducanu Hits the Ground Running in Melbourne

After a challenging off-season and some recent tournament setbacks, Emma Raducanu has silenced the doubters with a brilliant start to her 2026 Australian Open campaign. The British number one, seeded 28th, overcame a sluggish start in her first-round match on Margaret Court Arena to defeat Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.

Raducanu’s journey to Melbourne was far from ideal. Her pre-season was hampered by a foot injury, limiting her court time, and she arrived in Australia with just one win under her belt for the new year. After a surprise loss in the Hobart International quarter-finals just days earlier, there were questions about her match sharpness.

In the early stages of the Australian Open opener, those concerns seemed valid. Sawangkaew, a Grand Slam main draw debutante playing well above her ranking of world No. 195, broke Raducanu to take a 3-1 lead. The Briton even faced two break points that would have seen her fall to a 4-1 deficit.

But it was there that Raducanu’s famous resilience shone through. She saved those break points, found her rhythm, and the momentum shifted dramatically. The 2021 US Open champion, displaying a greater weight of shot and aggressive play, reeled off seven consecutive games to take the first set 6-4 and establish an ominous 3-0 lead in the second.

From that point on, Raducanu was in control. She dropped just two points on serve in the early stages of the second set and went on to win 10 of the final 11 games of the match. The match was sealed with an ace, a fitting end to a dominant display that lasted just one hour and 11 minutes.

“I feel very happy to have got through that match,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview. “I’m really proud of how I fought back in the first set”.

The victory marks Raducanu’s fifth consecutive first-round win at the Australian Open and sets up a second-round clash against Russia’s Anastasia Potapova. A potential third-round meeting with world number one Aryna Sabalenka looms, but for now, Raducanu has every reason to be confident.

By overcoming the scheduling difficulties and injury woes, Raducanu has indeed “hit the ground running.” This strong start suggests she is on the right pathway in her highly anticipated comeback year. Fans can catch live updates and the full schedule on the Sky Sports app or stream matches on NOW.