IDENTITY CRISIS

Early Melbourne exit prompts Raducanu to shake up her approach by rolling back the years

- FROM YASMIN SYED

EMMA RADUCANU admits she must rediscover her “identity” on the tennis court after crashing out in the second round of the Australian Open.

The No.28 seed, who had been hoping to set up another clash with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in round three, served for the first set but suffered a 7-6 6-2 defeat by Russian-turned-Austrian Anastasia Potapova.

Raducanu’s preseason was derailed by a foot injury, and she did not practice any points until arriving Down Under in early January. Even so, she had spoken positively about the work she is doing with coach Francisco Roig, who she hired last summer.

But speaking after her Melbourne exit, the 23-year-old admitted she wants to make some major changes to her approach to the game.

“I'm going to take a few days, get back, get back home, and try and just reevaluate my game a bit. Just reassess the aspects of my game,” said Raducanu.