Emma Raducanu hopes to face Coco Gauff again with a little more practice under her belt.

Raducanu lost 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to the 18-year-old American on Wednesday, as her Australian Open hopes were dashed.

The 2021 US Open champion failed to take two set points to restore parity at Rod Laver Arena, and ultimately paid the price when Gauff won the tie-break.

Raducanu suffered an ankle injury while in action at the Auckland Open earlier in January, and battled through the pain barrier to play in Melbourne.

"What I had to [do] to be in the draw is a massive effort and achievement," Raducanu said.

"I would say all the chips were against us, and the chances of me playing this tournament were very, very low.

"So I had extremely limited practice time, I think I can say that now I'm not competing anymore.

"It was obviously going to be a push to get me on the court. I think 13 days ago if you would have said 'Hey, you're going to be in the draw and win a round', it would have been a massive effort for sure.

"Saying that, I still think I didn't necessarily play my best [against Gauff]. Although the second set I had chances, I felt like I could have done better myself. But props to her. She's a great, great opponent and great athlete."

It was the first meeting between Raducanu and Gauff, who is ranked 70 places higher than the 20-year-old by the WTA.

Raducanu has slipped down to 77 in the world rankings but is confident she will give Gauff a sterner test the next time they go head-to-head.

"I'd really like to play her again. Maybe with more than five hours of practice under my belt," Raducanu said.

"Yes, she's a great opponent. I think that we're going to be playing each other many times in the future as we're both young and coming. We're going to be the next generation."

Raducanu is now looking forward to building up her fitness and form over the first half of the season.

"I'm just looking forward to putting in the work, and I feel I'm putting in a good system in place," she added.

"I'm feeling good and confident that in six months' time I know it's not going to be the finished product, but hopefully I would have made strides."

Coco Gauff may not be the most popular person on her own TikTok, but she impressed the crowds at Melbourne Park as she beat Emma Raducanu in straight sets.

In what was a much-anticipated clash at the Australian Open between the world number seven and the 2021 US Open champion, it was Gauff who emerged on top with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory to seal passage to the third round.

It also made Gauff the first woman to win 100 Tour-level main draw matches before turning 19 since Caroline Wozniacki did so in 2009.

The 18-year-old took the opening set by stepping up her game on key points, breaking her British opponent twice while saving six of seven break points against her.

In an even second set, Gauff was forced to save two set points as Raducanu tried to take advantage of the American's struggling forehand.

However, Gauff hit back to force a tie-break that she won in style with a drop shot followed by a lob.

"I just told myself to hang in there and I was playing really good tennis," Gauff said in an on-court interview. "I think we both started off rocky but I think the match was good quality for the most part.

"Considering the circumstances I think both of us were nervous, this was a long-anticipated match basically since the draw came out so I'm glad that it was a good match for you guys.

"At a grand slam you have to win seven matches and you have to expect to play the best, obviously you hope it's not in the second round but what can you do?

"I feel like we handled the pressure really well and kudos to Emma, I know she had a tough week in Auckland [suffering an ankle injury] so good for her to be able to play at this level after such a scary moment."

Gauff also joked about a TikTok she recently posted that divided opinion on her parents' dancing ability.

"I posted a video online and it got like a million views and everyone was hating on my dad in the comments, so I kind of felt bad... parents really do anything for their kids so I'm glad my dad took one for the team."

Asked who is the best dancer of the three of them, she replied: "Probably my mom, at least that's what the comments said.

"They said my mom ate both of us up... a lot of people asked for a solo video just of her and I was like: 'No, I'm the star, how do I get outshined on my own TikTok?'"

Coco Gauff believes all the pressure will be on Emma Raducanu when the two face each other in the second round of the Australian Open.

Neither had any difficulties in their opening matches of the tournament at Melbourne Park on Monday, with Gauff easing past Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-4 while Raducanu dispatched Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-2.

Gauff pointed to the pressure Raducanu has faced since her surprise US Open win in 2021 and thinks that her opponent being the main British hope could play to her advantage. 

"Obviously she's gone through a lot of pressure, bursting onto the scene. I feel like probably more than I have experienced coming to win a slam," Gauff said.

"Especially being from the UK, the first British person to do something in a long time, probably is a lot more pressure than what I'm used to being an American. Obviously I was a lot younger when I got the attention, so I definitely think handling it at an older age is a little bit easier than at 15. But also, at the same time, I didn't win a slam.

"There's always, for American fans, someone to look to. Whereas I feel like, the British, it's just her. There's other British players, but no one has done what she's done and gotten that far in a slam."

Raducanu also sealed her passage to the second round without much fuss as she put her recent injury issues behind her with a convincing win over Korpatsch.

"I'm obviously really happy to be through to the second round," Raducanu said. "It was always going to be difficult, coming in with so little prep and being out there.

"Everything I've done has been quite controlled the last week. So to test it out in a real match and with the unpredictability and stuff, I was just getting used to it in the beginning. But it felt good."

Despite being a grand slam winner, Raducanu came into the tournament 77th in the WTA rankings, 70 places below Gauff, but the 20-year-old is looking forward to facing another player she sees as part of the next generation.

"I'm really looking forward to this match," she added. "I'm very up for it. Coco has obviously done a lot of great things and she's playing well.

"I think we're both good, young players, we're both coming through, part of the next generation of tennis, really. It's going to be a great match."

Emma Raducanu is calling on the advice of England men's football captain Harry Kane as she seeks a deep run at the Australian Open.

Raducanu shot to stardom in 2021 when she became the youngest woman to win the US Open.

However, the 20-year-old heads to Melbourne ranked 77th in the world by the WTA, having only reached one semi-final – at the Korea Open in September – since her triumph at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu has been nursing an ankle injury prior to the season's first grand slam, but that problem has now cleared up, and she revealed Tottenham star Kane has been offering his advice.

"Harry's obviously such a great role model and very professional and I think to be able to speak to him is really cool," Raducanu told the media. 

"We haven't spoken so much but he's obviously an outstanding player, and it's just pretty cool isn't it?

"For someone of his achievements, it's pretty remarkable how he’s so humble. I respect him a lot.

"It's obviously really cool to speak to some other athletes. I think it's good because we all kind of understand what each other are thinking and going through at times.

"And at the end of the day they're just really cool people as well."

Raducanu will face Tamara Korpatsch in her first match in Melbourne on Monday.

Emma Raducanu is "in a good place" ahead of the Australian Open after an ankle injury threatened her participation.

Raducanu was left in tears after retiring against Viktoria Kuzmova in their round-of-16 match at the ASB Classic.

The 20-year-old won the first set 6-0, but after losing the second set 7-5, Raducanu was unable to continue, sparking fears over her ability to play in the Australian Open in just 11 days.

But with her tournament opener against Tamara Korpatsch now just two days away, the 2021 US Open champion eased fears over her fitness, saying she "fully trusts" her ankle.

"I've been able to do preparation, albeit more limited than usual," Raducanu told reporters on Saturday. "But I'm feeling in a good place to go out there and give it my best shot.

"We were thrown a bit of a curveball but we remained optimistic. It's been a team effort to get me to this place. We've been building it up pretty gradually.

"For the ankle, I feel really good. It's going to be more introducing certain things, and the rate at which we've had to do it has been really quick.

"But I've not really played much tennis ever in my career, so I'm kind of used to it. And I'm not stressed about lack of tennis that much."

In Melbourne, Raducanu will be aiming to go beyond the second round of a grand slam for the first time since her incredible US Open heroics in 2021.

Emma Raducanu was in tears as she retired with an ankle injury at the ASB Classic 11 days before the Australian Open starts, while Coco Gauff beat Sofia Kenin to reach the quarter-finals.

Raducanu dished out a bagel to qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova in the first set of the round of 16 match in Auckland on Thursday, but the 2021 US Open champion was unable to continue after losing the second set 7-5.

The 20-year-old Brit ended a disappointing 2022 season early due to a wrist injury and suffered another blow ahead of the first major of this year, leaving the court in tears.

Gauff will be eyeing her maiden grand slam title in 2023 and she impressively dispatched fellow American Kenin 6-4 6-4 in the second round in the capital of New Zealand.

Top seed Gauff and her compatriot were forced to play indoors due to the rain and it was the 18-year-old who prevailed, breaking three times and saving six of the break points she faced.

The teenager will face Zhu Lin of China for a place in the semi-finals after she beat Venus Williams 3-6 6-2 7-5.

Leylah Fernandez inflicted a crushing 6-0 6-1 defeat on Julia Grabher after losing only two games in her first-round win over Brenda Fruhvirtova and the Canadian will now face Ysaline Bonaventure, who defeated Rebecca Marino in three sets.

Top seed Ons Jabeur made a winning start to the season at the Adelaide International, seeing off Sorana Cirstea 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 to set up a meeting with Marta Kostyuk

Irina-Camelia Begu claimed the scalp of Jelena Ostapenko with a 6-3 6-0 upset of the seventh seed, while Victoria Azarenka was a 6-2 7-5 winner against Zheng Qinwen and teenager Linda Noskova got past Claire Liu in straight sets.

Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff both got off to winning starts at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Tuesday.

Raducanu had to come from a set down to beat Linda Fruhvirtova 4-6 6-4 6-2, while top seed Gauff had an easier time of it as she dismissed Tatjana Maria 6-4 6-1 on another day interrupted by the rain.

Second seed Sloane Stephens was only able to get through three games before play was suspended in her match against Rebeka Masarova, while fifth seed Wang Xiyu was 5-3 down in the first set against Karolina Muchova when the rain came.

Fourth seed Bernarda Pera is out after her match with Viktoria Kuzmova resumed having being washed out on Monday, and the American was unable to prevent a 6-4 6-4 defeat, with Kuzmova advancing to face Raducanu in the last 16.

The only two other matches completed on Tuesday saw Elena-Gabriela Ruse beat Erin Routliffe in three sets, and Anna Blinkova overcome Elisabetta Cocciaretto, also in three.

At the Adelaide International, Zheng Qinwen earned a hard-fought victory against number six seed Anett Kontaveit, eventually winning 6-1 4-6 7-6 (9-7).

Eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova also crashed out despite winning the first set against Marketa Vondrousova, going on to lose 4-6 6-3 6-2, though seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko is through after beating Karolina Pliskova 6-1 6-3.

In a contest that lasted over two-and-a-half hours despite only two sets being played, Victoria Azarenka beat Anhelina Kalinina 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-5), and will face Zheng next, while Sorana Cirstea will go up against top seed Ons Jabeur in the last 16 after beating Viktorija Golubic in straight sets.

Emma Raducanu is working with a new coach as she heads towards the 2023 season, reports said on Friday.

The 2021 US Open winner, who turned 20 in November, has had a growing list of coaches and is seeking the right formula to make an alliance successful.

She has turned for now to German Sebastian Sachs, a 30-year-old who previously worked with Victoria Azarenka, as a member of the Belarusian's team, before becoming the main coach of Julia Goerges and latterly Belinda Bencic.

Olympic champion Bencic recently appointed Dmitry Tursunov, who had been working with Raducanu, and Sachs has headed in the opposite direction by joining up with the British youngster.

As well as Russian former ATP top-20 player Tursunov, Raducanu has had coaching spells under the tutelage of Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and the Lawn Tennis Association's Iain Bates in the past two years.

Raducanu and her team have yet to formally announce Sachs' role, but reports have indicated he has been with her this week in Abu Dhabi. Her management have yet to confirm whether this is a trial or a full-time appointment.

The one-time grand slam winner had a match on Friday against Ons Jabeur at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition event, losing 5-7 6-3 10-8 to the 2022 Wimbledon and US Open runner-up.

After parting company with Raducanu, Tursunov said getting the best out of the Briton would be "minimum a one-year project but... probably a two-and-a-half-year project to be on the safe side", and reasoned that her game remained "very raw".

"It's going to take some time, but as I said to her and to pretty much everyone on her team: I think you just need to have one voice and just try that for a bit," Tursunov said.

Raducanu has not reached a final since her dazzling Flushing Meadows victory, and she finished the 2022 season at 76th in the WTA rankings.

Emma Raducanu felt "extremely grateful" after being made an MBE for her services to tennis.

The 20-year-old was presented with the honour by King Charles III in a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

It comes 14 months after Raducanu's fairytale triumph at the US Open, where she became the first British female grand slam champion since Virginia Wade's Wimbledon victory in 1977.

The then 18-year-old was also the first qualifier to land a major after her straight-sets her win over Leylah Fernandez in the championship match at Flushing Meadows.

In a statement released via her agent, Raducanu said: "It's been great to receive my honour today from his Majesty the King - I feel extremely grateful."

Raducanu did not enjoy a fruitful season in 2022, as she failed to win a trophy or progress beyond the second round in any of the grand slams.

Her deepest run in a tournament came in September, when she reached the semi-finals of the Korea Open, but she had to retire hurt from a semi-final tie with Jelena Ostapenko.

Emma Raducanu has pulled out of next month's Billie Jean King Cup, citing a wrist injury.

The former US Open champion had been named as part of Great Britain's team for the tournament, which will take place at Emirates Arena in Glasgow between November 8-13.

Raducanu was selected alongside Harriet Dart, Katie Boulter and Heather Watson, with a fifth member to be added at a later date, and made her Billie Jean King Cup debut in April's qualifier against Czech Republic.

However, after pulling out of the Transylvania Open earlier this month with the same right-wrist issue, the 19-year-old confirmed on Friday she had been told by doctors she will not recover in time.

"It's disappointing to get the news from the doctors that I won't be ready in time, particularly with it being on home soil," Raducanu said.

"I tried to do everything possible to get it ready in time. 

"Since my last tournament I've been working every day on physical training and rehab. I've got confidence in my team-mates and look forward to playing next year."

Great Britain will be one of 12 teams participating in Scotland, and have been drawn in a group with Kazakhstan and Spain.

Emma Raducanu has been urged to slow down the churn of coaches by her side as Russian Dmitry Tursunov claimed he walked away from the British player because of "red flags".

Tursunov, a former top-20 player and seven-time title winner on the men's tour, said Raducanu needs to listen to "one voice" and see where that takes her, after he became the latest coach to part ways with the former US Open winner.

It emerged in early October that Tursunov had called a halt to working with Raducanu, and he has taken up a role with Swiss player Belinda Bencic instead.

Tursunov told tennismajors.com how "emotionally" he had wanted his trial period with Raducanu to become permanent, insisting he saw rich potential in the 19-year-old, but he suspected there would "be problems later".

Former Davis Cup winner Tursunov did not specify who or what he saw as being a stumbling block to working with Raducanu on a permanent basis.

"I was walking away from Emma regardless of whether there was another [player] available or not," Tursunov said. "We didn't agree on the terms and there were some red flags that just couldn't be ignored."

Raducanu turns 20 in November. As well as Tursunov, in the past 18 months she has worked with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and the Lawn Tennis Association's Iain Bates.

Her growing list of former coaches is notable and the focus on that factor could influence those Raducanu wishes to work with in the future.

Tursunov said Raducanu was "minimum a one-year project but... probably a two-and-a-half-year project to be on the safe side", and reasoned that her game remained "very raw".

"It’s going to take some time, but as I said to her and to pretty much everyone on her team: I think you just need to have one voice and just try that for a bit," Tursunov said

He said he "stuck around" after a trial around the US Open and was looking for assurance that, if taken on, he would be given time to work towards long-term goals.

"But of course, with her coaching situation, there's now a thought going through every coach's mind," Tursunov added.

Raducanu has not reached a final since her dazzling Flushing Meadows victory, but Tursunov has no doubt about the talent of a player he describes as "absolutely great" and "hungry to improve".

There have been just four quarter-final runs in the wake of her September 2021 triumph in New York, with Raducanu only converting one into a semi-final appearance

Tursunov, 39, says Raducanu "has a tremendous upside", but he also issued a warning, adding: "The ingredients are very good, but you can still mess it up."

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Transylvania Open with a wrist injury, compounding a miserable 2022 for the British number one.

The teenager became an overnight star on the WTA Tour last year when she won the US Open women's singles title in her first appearance at Flushing Meadows.

However, her attempts to follow up that success have been hamstrung by a succession of niggles, with Raducanu currently down at 67th in the world rankings.

Her withdrawal from next week's event in Romania – the country from which her father hails – is just the latest injury problem, with Raducanu having been forced to quit during the semi-finals of last month's Korea Open with a glute problem.

This followed a first-round retirement at the Nottingham Open before Wimbledon, though Raducanu ultimately recovered to reach the second round of the grass-court major.

A first-round exit at the Ostrava Open this week, followed by the latest setback, means Raducanu's season appears effectively over, with the 19-year-old likely to set her focus on regaining full fitness ahead of 2023.

Belinda Bencic fought back to defeat Eugenie Bouchard in an Ostrava Open first-round contest that took over two and a half hours to settle.

Bouchard took the first set, but Bencic came from behind to advance with a 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 6-4 victory on Tuesday.

Eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko, runner-up in the Korea Open, suffered a premature exit as Aliaksandra Sasnovich consigned the former French Open champion to a 6-2 6-2 defeat.

Emma Raducanu also went out in straight sets, with Daria Kasatkina beating the 2021 US Open champion 7-5 6-4.

Catherine McNally blitzed to a 6-1 6-2 victory over Anna Blinkova, while Alycia Parks progressed past Karolina Pliskova to secure the first top-20 win of her career.

Top seed Ons Jabeur swept aside Ann Li with relative ease in a 6-2 6-3 victory at the Jasmin Open to reach the last 16.

Veronika Kudermetova, the second seed, breezed past Varvara Gracheva with a commanding 6-1 6-0 win.

Anastasia Potapova, Petra Martic, Magdalena Frech and Harriet Dart were among the other victors.

Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her Korea Open semi-final against Jelena Ostapenko due to injury, leaving the Latvian to face second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in Sunday's final.

The 2021 US Open winner was featuring in her first semi-final since that fairytale triumph at Flushing Meadows, and took the opening set 6-4 after making a flying start on Saturday.

Ostapenko then fought back to level the match, with Raducanu first appearing to struggle with her movement when she was a break up in the second, forcing her to take an off-court medical timeout.

The 19-year old later retired citing a left glute injury when 3-0 down in the decider, ending her confidence-boosting run in Seoul and teeing up a final meeting between the top two seeds.

Indeed, Alexandrova enjoyed a more routine outing in her meeting with Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria, downing the German 6-2 6-4 to advance to her second final of the year.

At the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, meanwhile, Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen reached her first WTA Tour final with a hard-fought win over world number 13 Veronika Kudermetova.

Having required over three hours to seal her 5-7 6-3 7-6 (7-3) triumph, the world number 36 said: "After the match when I won the last point, the feeling was incredible. 

"The opponent, she's playing unbelievable tennis. She has a really good serve and hits the ball hard, she moves well. It's my first time in the final. I'm so happy."

Her compatriot Zhang Shuai was unable to replicate those exploits, however, as Liudmila Samsonova eased into her third WTA final of the year with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win. 

In-form Samsonova has won both of her previous final appearances this year - each of which came last month - and is 3-0 in showpiece matches for her career.

Emma Raducanu raced into her first semi-final of 2022 by beating Magda Linette at the Korea Open, teeing up a meeting with top seed Jelena Ostapenko. 

Raducanu required just 77 minutes to see off the third seed for a 6-2 6-2 win, dominating from the outset to clinch her first final four spot in any tournament since last year's famous US Open triumph.

Having wrapped up the opener with a fierce backhand winner, Raducanu was forced to endure a brief revival from Linette in the second set, before the Pole was troubled by a thigh injury.

Linette lost 14 of the first 17 points on resumption after a medical time out, struggling with her movement as Raducanu saw out the match.

Raducanu has yet to drop a set during her run in Seoul, but will face a stern test in the semi-finals after Ostapenko overcame 17-year-old Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-2 6-1, setting up a first career meeting between the duo.

On the other side of the draw, Ekaterina Alexandrova earned a hard-fought 7-5 7-6 (8-6) win over Lulu Radovcic, but fourth seed Zhu Lin crashed out to Tatjana Maria, losing 6-1 6-1.

In the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, meanwhile, Garbine Muguruza fell to a shock 6-4 6-2 quarter-final defeat to Liudmila Samsonova, handing the Russian her 16th win in her last 17 outings.

She will meet Zhang Shuai in the next round, after she became the first Chinese player to make the last four in Tokyo since 2009 by beating Petra Martic 7-5 6-2. 

In a battle between the competition's fourth and fifth seeds, meanwhile, Veronika Kudermetova rallied to beat Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.