Of the 22 matches that Raducanu lost, only seven were against competitors ranked lower than her, with three of those occurring in the previous month.
However, defeating the top players, who generally possess greater strength, has remained a challenge for her thus far.
She suffered losses in 10 out of 11 matches against players in the top 10 during 2025, with the sole exception being a victory over Emma Navarro in Miami in March.
She displayed great competitiveness against world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Wimbledon’s Centre Court and pushed her to a third-set tie-break in Cincinnati, but beyond that, there weren’t many encouraging signs.
Following a 6-1, 6-2 defeat to ninth seed Elena Rybakina at the US Open, Raducanu contemplated the areas where she needs improvement to alter her performance.
“My serve – it has improved, but I believe there’s room for further enhancement,” she conveyed to BBC Sport.
“Also, the shot immediately after the serve, ensuring I’m prepared for a swift return. I believe that’s an area where I still have significant work ahead.”
“I believe that initiating the point is of utmost importance when competing at that level.”
Raducanu acquired an unfortunate pattern in Asia of being unable to capitalize on match points.
Last year’s Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejcikova, saved three match points against her in Seoul, and then world number five Jessica Pegula repeated the feat in Beijing a week later.
However, more concerning was Raducanu’s decline in the deciding set of those matches. Against Pegula, Raducanu took risks and quickly diminished.
This was not a characteristic that had been evident over the summer, and it possibly indicated a body and mind fatigued by nine months of travel.
