Australian Open 2026: Emma Raducanu overcomes slow start to sail into second round

Raducanu made encouraging progress in 2025, breaking back into the world top 30 and playing more matches than in any previous season of his career.

However, his planned off-season technical work with coach Francisco Roig, who helped Rafael Nadal win 16 of his 22 major championships, was disrupted by a foot injury.

She arrived in Melbourne with just one win and suffered a heavy defeat against world number 204 Taylah Preston in Hobart in her last match before the first major of the year.

It looked like another upset might be on the cards for Raducanu, as Sawangkaew, who was entering his first Grand Slam main draw, came alive in the opening few games and crushed Raducanu with aggressive comebacks and smart net play.

He defeated the Briton in the third game and had a chance to take a 4-1 lead, but Raducanu responded with a handful of superb wins to avoid falling further behind.

Raducanu gained momentum from there and came back to level the set at 4-4, breaking again to claim the first goal.

He continued to outmaneuver the Thai player, winning 17 to Sawangkaew’s nine and winning 27 of the 40 points on offer in the second set, sealing victory in style with an ace.

“He’s playing incredible tennis and he’s much higher than his current ranking, so I think he’ll do good things this year,” Raducanu added.