Raducanu's 'most dispiriting' Slam display – what went wrong?
After Emma Raducanu suffered a humbling Australian Open second-round exit, BBC Sport analyses where the Briton goes next.
After Emma Raducanu suffered a humbling Australian Open second-round exit, BBC Sport analyses where the Briton goes next.
British number one Emma Raducanu says she is leaving the Australian Open with her “head held high” after losing 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to Austria’s Anastasia Potapova in the second round.
Last July, Carlos Alcaraz fell in the Wimbledon final to Jannik Sinner. It was a difficult defeat for the Spaniard, who despite his disappointment showed perspective.
“In the last year I’ve been through different situations that I learned from,” Alcaraz said. “Right now I’m in a position that I’ve spoken a few times already that, okay, I just accept everything that is coming to me in the way it comes. Like, okay, I just lost a final in a Grand Slam, but I’m just really proud about being in a final.”
His discussion of acceptance caught the attention of Andres Pedroso, the head coach at the University of Virginia. Pedroso sent the video to his team, which included Rafael Jodar, the #NextGenATP Spanish star.
“We believe the best players in the world accept who they are, accept their game styles, they accept their strengths and their weaknesses — especially their weaknesses — and they accept all the circumstances that happen in a match,” Pedroso said. “When you do a really good job of accepting what happens and who you are, you’re going to do the best job of being totally present for the next point.”
Acceptance remains a key pillar of the Virginia programme, and has stuck with Jodar. After qualifying for a major main draw for the first time at the Australian Open, the teen let slip a two-set advantage against fellow 19-year-old Rei Sakamoto in the first round. That did not deter Jodar from finishing the job against his Japanese opponent.
“I just try to give my best, try to give the best level I have that day and as Coach Pedroso would say, I just try to accept all things that come,” Jodar told ATPTour.com after the match. “There are things that you cannot control, but if you have the best mental toughness that day, you can give yourself a chance to win that day.”
Jodar recently turned pro after just one year at UVA, but assistant coach Brian Rasmussen is with him in Australia and he has remained in close contact with Pedroso. Both coaches raved about the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor’s class on and, importantly, off the court.
<img alt=”Rafael Jodar, Rafael Nadal and Martin Landaluce” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/21/12/16/jodar-nadal-landaluce-2025.jpg” />
Jodar, Rafael Nadal and Martin Landaluce at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
“He’s the most mature 19-year-old you’re going to meet out there. He really knows what he wants and that’s the way he was raised,” Pedroso said. “Just a very simple life, working hard, treating people right, doing the right thing and just an all-around good human being, but totally focused on what he wants to do and his dream is to become a world-class pro.”
The Spaniard came to Virginia as one of the most highly touted recruits in recent memory to the extent that it was unclear if he would simply turn pro. Fresh off the US Open boys’ singles title, Jodar was in a new world in college.
“His transition to the United States was really tough. He’s an only child, he’s lived his whole life in Spain and when he showed up to Virginia, I’m not going to lie, his first couple weeks were tough because it’s just a different environment,” Pedroso recalled. “It’s a different language, you’re studying in English. College tennis is a completely different sport from junior tennis and pro tennis. He was able to assimilate relatively quickly and from the beginning, his first match was a little bit of a shock to him.”
That match came against Connor Thomson of the University of South Carolina, an experienced player who had qualified for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator. With fans screaming in the stands, Jodar was clearly no longer playing junior tennis.
“College tennis is a completely different sport with all the yelling and screaming and it’s just a very hectic environment and Rafa was just a fish out of water,” Pedroso said. “He looked at me a couple times during the match and said, ‘Coach, where am I? This is a different sport’. The best part about him is he ended up losing the match, but we ended up winning and he was so genuinely happy for the team.”
[NO 1 CLUB]It took almost no time for Jodar to acclimatise. Despite suffering from cramp and struggling with an ankle, he would beat the No. 1 player in the country on the No. 1 team and became one of the best players in college tennis. But what has stood out to those around him is not the tennis player — Jodar’s performance speaks for itself — but how he carries himself.
“Rafa’s father told me that every time he had a big tournament win, when he came back to Madrid, the first thing he had his son do was hit with one of the really young kids at the club,” Pedroso said. “Rafa would go out there, hit balls with him, have fun with the kid or just feed him balls. That’s just a small example of how well he was raised and the type of people the Jodar family are.”
Jodar has wasted no time leaving his mark in 2026. He has won 10 of his first 11 matches, reaching an ATP Challenger final in Canberra and now is in the second round in Melbourne off the back of his thrilling five-set win against Sakamoto. His mental resilience has shone.
“If we just stay in there and do the right things mentally each and every point, their level is eventually come back down and ours is eventually going to raise,” Rasmussen said. “I think what makes Rafa so special is he knows he can do that over the course of four, five hours because he’s proven that to himself time and time again, whether it was back in Madrid with his dad or in his 12 months at UVA.
“He has challenged himself to really check every box and takes care of the small details in his life whether it’s academically, socially or on the tennis court. And I believe when you compound that many little details over the course of 24 hours each and every day, day after day, you’re going to have a lot of confidence that you know you can hang in there.”
A year ago, the teen was barely inside the world’s Top 900, and now he is No. 134 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. No matter what happens when Jodar plays 16th seed Jakub Mensik Thursday for a place in the third round, it is safe to say the Spaniard will accept the result, learn from it and continue his rapid ascent.
“I just want to enjoy every time that I’m playing tennis,” Jodar said. “That’s the first goal when I step on a court. It hasn’t changed at all. I just have to keep going and start the season the best way possible.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Raducanu exits early in Melbourne as questions return about form, fitness and next steps
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina calls out “ignorant drunks” as he confronts the crowd during his win over Reilly Opelka in the Australian Open second round.
A round of golf with Roger Federer or coffee and sleep. How do players spend their days off at the Australian Open?
Carlos Alcaraz and Roger Federer never had the chance to develop a Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry on the tennis court, but the ATP No. 1 Club members squared off on the golf course in Melbourne during the Australian Open. After his three-set win against Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday, Alcaraz was asked about the Swiss star’s game during his on-court interview in Rod Laver Arena.
“It’s as beautiful as the tennis!” Alcaraz said. “I’m not surprised. It’s unbelievable. Everything he does, he does in style, really beautiful. On the golf course, it’s a really beautiful swing.”
While the 22-year-old Alcaraz has been playing golf for about five years — all throughout his professional career — the 44-year-old Federer waited until after he retired to pick up the sport. Judging by Alcaraz’s comments, the Swiss has made the most of his short time in the new game.
“I think he’s been playing for two years now, and his level is really, really good for two years,” Alcaraz said. “I’ve been playing five and he’s already beating me! It hurts, yeah.”
Back on the tennis court, the current No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings had no such problems. His 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 victory against Hanfmann moved him into the third round without the loss of a set — though he needed 78 minutes to win a dramatic opening set against the German.
While Alcaraz has a long way to go to match Federer’s six Australian Open singles titles and 20 Grand Slams, he could complete a Career Grand Slam this fortnight at age 22 — five years younger than Federer was when he achieved the feat by winning Roland Garros in 2009.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]The look on Francesco Maestrelli’s face said it all Monday at Melbourne Park. The Italian had just defeated Terence Atmane in the first round of the Australian Open and he understandably struggled to hold back his tears.
“Very, very emotional. I dreamed a lot about these matches and for me, it was a dream to participate in the first [major main draw] of my career,” Maestrelli told ATPTour.com. “I didn’t imagine winning a five-set match on my debut on the Tour, and I’m so excited and so happy.”
It was not only Maestrelli’s first major main draw match, but just his second tour-level match overall. The Pisa native’s only previous ATP Tour clash came in October 2022 in Florence. Now the 23-year-old will step straight into the spotlight.
Maestrelli will next take on 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic. The Italian said he has watched the Serbian “millions of times”.
“They told me that there was the chance to play Djokovic and it will be one of the most exciting things of my life,” Maestrelli said. “It’s crazy to have the chance to see his name close to mine in an official match and let’s see. I will try to do my best to try to win. I know that’s so complicated, but that’s it.”
The four-time ATP Challenger champion has never practised with Djokovic or had a formal conversation with him. Maestrelli has said “Ciao!” to the Serbian a few times over the years, but he will have to be ready to take on the 24-time major titlist Thursday in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.
“That’s one of the players that doesn’t have so [many] weak points,” Maestrelli said. “It will be so difficult to prepare for the match and I think we’re going to try to put all that I have on the court and it’s going to be tough.”
Maestrelli showed the world his talent at an early age, breaking into the Top 200 of the PIF ATP Rankings in September 2022 as a 19-year-old. But it took more than three years for him to move into the Top 150.
“That’s not easy, because when you do big results when you’re young, it’s something easier. You don’t know so much about the Tour, then you go and play,” Maestrelli said. “But you have to know also there are bad moments when the results don’t come. You have to struggle, you have to stay [through] very big difficulties and try to improve with that.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Maestrelli trained at the Italian Federation’s local centre since he was 16. But two years ago, Maestrelli moved a two-hour drive away from Pisa to Sinalunga, where he trains under Giovanni Galuppo and Gabrio Castrichella.
“It was so exciting because it was a new experience for me and it’s so good to share this moment with them,” Maestrelli said. “I’m so scared about changes, but I thought that was the right moment to do it. Then I tried to go and [not] think about it, and maybe, [now that it is] two years later, I can say that it was the right decision.”
Outside of tennis, Maestrelli enjoys playing basketball. His favourite player is Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball because of his creativity on the court. The Italian also loves watching hometown football team Pisa Sporting Club.
“I’m a normal guy, and I’m trying to do my best on what I love: tennis,” Maestrelli said. “I’m trying to put everything out there, and I’m a tall guy. I’m going to try to serve as fast as possible, because I know that in the rallies, maybe he is better than me. But I don’t know, let’s see.”
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One of the best stories of the Australian Open has been the breakthrough of Michael Zheng, the Columbia University senior who qualified for his first major main draw before upsetting Sebastian Korda to reach the second round.
The 21-year-old is not the only person who has a connection with both Columbia and the ATP Tour. Mario Ancic, the former No. 7 player in the PIF ATP Rankings who stunned Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2002 and made the semi-finals two years later, attended Columbia Law School and graduated in 2015.
The Croatian remains based in New York as a Principal at the private equity company One Equity Partners. The 41-year-old follows the Columbia tennis team closely and over the years and has gotten to know its players, including Zheng.
“I think it’s exceptional what he’s doing, and he’s a very humble person, very humble kid,” Ancic told ATPTour.com. “What all these guys are doing: Going to classes — very intense — competing amongst the best and the brightest in the country and internationally, and then still committing to being part of the programme that’s Top 10 in the country is nothing short of inspirational.”
Ancic is in close contact with head coach Howard Endelman and heard about Zheng before he even began playing for the Ivy League institution. In 2022, Zheng reached the Wimbledon boys’ singles final.
“He came heavily recruited. I believe he already had some great results in junior Grand Slams and I was very excited to see that somebody with a lot of success already at ITF [level] committed to come to play for Columbia,” Ancic said. “I actually remember him since he was a freshman. We talked, I met his family. He has a great family behind him and it was obviously very exciting to speak to him and play with him and see his success since.”
Ancic always thought the two-time NCAA singles champion had a great game entering college, and got the sense that Zheng was a hard worker who was very committed.
“He never rushed anything. I see a lot of junior players are like, ‘I’ve got to be on ATP, I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to do that’. He took time to develop his game,” Ancic said. “I think he developed physically, which is always very important.”
The Croatian pointed to Zheng’s work to become stronger and add muscle with the help of the Columbia coaching staff as important to his development as a player.
“I think that helped him also to develop some bigger shots and more weapons. His questions were always, ‘What do I need to do so I can compete with professionals?’” Ancic said. “I’ve seen him develop that game, develop bigger shots, a bigger game that can effectively help him ‘hurt’ other players with some bigger weapons. And I think that’s a testament to him, his family, and the programme.”
Not only does Ancic understand the tennis side of what Zheng is going through, but he is one of few who can put his feet in his fellow Lion’s academic shoes. Not only has Zheng been training hard to improve on the tennis court, but he has done so while shining in the classroom.
“It’s a commitment. You live in New York. They have classes, they live on campus. It’s on 116th Street, and the tennis courts are on 218th Street. So it’s not like everything is just there. You have to commute,” Ancic said. “New York is not the easiest city to commute [in], so the days are long. I know the guys… the team would be studying past midnight, early mornings, getting ready for classes, but still fully committed to do their best at the tennis court.
“Commuting back and forth between the tennis centre and the campus, and just going through the rigorous academic program is just something that is remarkable and what Michael was able to achieve to play at that level going through this programme and just representing the Lions in the best possible ways, it just makes us all very proud.”
[NO 1 CLUB]Ancic understands what it takes to succeed on and off the court. When a player who beat Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray glows about someone like he did about Zheng — who next faces Corentin Moutet in Melbourne — it speaks volumes.
“He’s always had a great demeanour about him, believing in himself and always giving his best, fighting. You always knew with Michael that he’s going to give it all on the court. That’s just something that always resonated with me when I was watching,” Ancic said. “This kid is a true example of a student-athlete. He’s committed to the programme, he’s committed to the classes, and he’s committed to the team in a sense that every time I watch him play, he always would give 100 per cent.
“Of course, when you have that mentality, there’s many times in a tennis match where you have this opportunity to win them. If you are stable, if you are mentally strong, opportunities arise in a tennis match. He always had that talent within himself.”
Did You Know?
Another Croatian, former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, watched 30 minutes of Zheng’s opening win against Korda. Cilic said about the college star: “Really, really interesting. A player [who] has got a very diverse game. There are a lot of things that he does well. You still see that it’s a work in progress, that let’s say if he works himself the next two, three, four years, that he can definitely develop into a great player. What I loved about [him] was [he was] playing for the first time in a Grand Slam, playing a guy, Sebastian, who is a fantastic player, and having such incredible composure and also a physical ability and mental ability to stay and to win in five.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]