Resilient Raducanu recovers from sluggish start to progress

Sixteen minutes into her opening match at Melbourne Park, Emma Raducanu was 1-3, 15-40 down and flailing badly.

- Tumaini Carayol

Across the net from a relatively unknown opponent playing lights-out tennis on her grand slam debut, this could have been a moment where panic set in, errors flowed and life became even more difficult.

However, Raducanu remained positive and rallied impressively, recovering quickly from her slow start before moving easily into the second round with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand.

Under tricky circumstances late at night against an impressive opponent, this was a strong start that should imbue Raducanu with confidence as she continues her attempts to get up to pace with the tour after a difficult off-season.

"I feel very happy to have gotten through the match," the 23-year-old said. "From the beginning, I felt like she was playing incredibly well. All of her returns and shots seemed to fall on the baseline and were really difficult. So I'm really happy with how I was able to fight back."

On Saturday, Raducanu was critical of the scheduling decisions of the Australian Open organisers after she had just one day to prepare onsite for her first match. The Briton had competed in Hobart on Thursday evening and a delayed flight meant she arrived in Melbourne only on Friday, with just one day to practise and adjust to the new conditions.