Raducanu made encouraging progress last year, climbing back into the world’s top 30 and playing more matches than in any previous season.
This defeat means she has still only gone past the third round of a Grand Slam once since her stunning US Open triumph as a teenage qualifier in 2021.
However, the off-season technical work she planned to put in with coach Francisco Roig – who helped Rafael Nadal win 16 of his 22 major titles – was compromised by a foot injury.
When Raducanu returned in 2026, a tweak to her forehand – a higher and longer takeback, designed to add more spin – was clear.
But she seemed to lack trust in the shot against Potapova, landing 70% of her forehand returns in – compared to 96% from her opponent – and making 19 unforced errors off that wing.
“I want to be playing a different way. The misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on,” said Raducanu.
Mistakes came from all aspects of Raducanu’s game against Potapova, with the Briton saying afterwards she did not feel “very well” from the start.
It showed in a subdued performance. As well as seeming to lack trust in her shots, her mood was flat and rarely interacted with her support box or the crowd.
It is the first time since the 2022 US Open, when she was still 11th in the world, that Raducanu has been beaten by a lower-ranked player at a major.
“I just want to hit the ball to the corners and hard. I feel like I’m doing all this variety, and it’s not doing what I want it to do,” she added.
“I need to just work on playing in a way more similar to how I was playing when I was younger.”
