Raducanu rallies from early wobble to dominate Sawangkaew

Emma Raducanu absorbed the sting of an early deficit on the sun-drenched hard courts of Melbourne Park, her No. 28 seed status tested right from the baseline. Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew, making her Grand Slam main-draw debut after a six-month injury layoff, pounced with deep returns and net forays to snag a 3-1 lead in the first set. But Raducanu, preserving her perfect first-round record at the Australian Open for a fifth straight year, flipped the script with sharper serves and heavier groundstrokes, rolling to a 6-4, 6-1 victory in 1 hour and 11 minutes.

The Briton’s path into this Australian Open 2026 carried shadows from a disrupted preseason and a Hobart quarterfinal loss to a wild card ranked outside the Top 200. Sawangkaew, down to No. 196 but fresh off an ITF W75 title in Nonthaburi, channeled her pre-injury Top 100 form—the third Thai player to reach that milestone—into an aggressive opener. Raducanu’s returns skimmed short early, her forehand probing for rhythm as the qualifier’s crosscourt strikes stretched her side to side.

Qualifier’s surge exposes vulnerabilities

Sawangkaew swung freely from the baseline, her flat forehand landing with pace that exploited the hard courts’ low skid, forcing Raducanu into defensive lobs that hung too long. The Thai player, eager to erase her injury hiatus, captured the first break at 3-1 with a brilliant net finish after a scrambling rally, then earned two points for a 4-1 edge. Raducanu’s body tightened under the pressure, the crowd on Court 6 murmuring as deuce arrived at 4-2, the qualifier’s high first-serve percentage keeping her in control.

These early exchanges echoed the mental weight of Raducanu’s 2026 start, where every hold felt like a negotiation with doubt. Sawangkaew’s athleticism shone in side-to-side coverage, her nine winners mostly clustered in the opening set, pinning the seed behind the baseline with returns that kissed the lines. Yet in Grand Slam tennis, unclaimed breaks often invite reversal, and Raducanu’s resolve began to stir as she saved those chances with precise 1–2 patterns—serve wide, forehand inside-out—that opened the court.

The pivot came in a grueling hold at 2-4, Raducanu digging deep from 15-40 to erase break points with a volley winner after a point that had Sawangkaew darting end to end. Momentum tilted as the Briton’s returns deepened, crowding the Thai player’s second serve and drawing unforced errors that would reach 21 by the end. The air on Court 6 thickened with the shift, Raducanu’s eyes narrowing on the ball as she began to dictate the rally lengths.

Aggression reclaims the baseline battle

Flattening her forehand to match the surface’s speed, Raducanu turned defense into dominance, her topspin gripping the court to pull Sawangkaew off-balance. A double fault from the qualifier at 4-4 gifted the break back, followed by a wide forehand under deep return pressure, handing Raducanu a 5-4 lead. She converted set point with another probing return that forced an error, her 17th winner of the match underscoring the tactical surge.

The second set extended that command, Raducanu holding for 3-0 with a sliced backhand pass down-the-line—a hot shot that sliced past Sawangkaew’s desperate stretch at net. The opponent’s form evaporated, her winners limited to one in the frame as unforced miscues piled up against the Briton’s relentless baseline depth. Closing with her second ace on match point, Raducanu exhaled into the applause, her movement fluid now, the earlier tension dissolved in the hard court’s unforgiving tempo.

The Great Wall of Emma 🧱@EmmaRaducanu had no right to win this point and did... 😲@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/UE0DN16Rt7

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2026

This wasn’t just survival; it reflected Raducanu’s growing control across all shots, a step up from the Hobart matches that, despite their setbacks, sharpened her edge for this stage. She reflected on the crucial 2-4 hold as the turning point, where saving from 15-40 unlocked her feet and forehand. “I was just very happy with how I kept competing,” she added. “It was a really important game at 2-4 to hold, having saved a couple break points at 15-40. After that I think it was a combination of me finding my feet, my movement, dominating a bit more, and also a few errors from her. Both of that helped. I ended up having a pretty good run of games.”

“Today overall in all my shots, I felt like I had better control than I did in the last few weeks,” she continued. “But the last few weeks’ matches and points, everything I’ve been doing on the court, has really helped to be in the situation I am in today. If I had not played those three matches, despite how they went, I don’t know if I would have gotten through today.”

Potapova’s comeback sets power clash

Next awaits Anastasia Potapova, the No. 55 who erased a set and 5-1 deficit to defeat Suzan Lamens 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, her seventh such rally from a set down last year including match-point escapes in Stuttgart, Madrid, and Rome. The 24-year-old Russian, a big hitter whose groundstrokes thrive on hard-court pace, carries momentum from that escape, her junior dominance on Tennis Europe and ITF circuits a memory Raducanu holds from the year below. This first meeting promises fireworks, Potapova’s power testing the Briton’s precision in extended rallies.

Raducanu has tracked her opponent’s rise, noting the confidence boost from today’s grind. “I remember watching Anastasia all through juniors, number one Tennis Europe juniors, ITF,” she said. “I was the year below her. She was always the player to watch and beat through juniors. She’s been very high ranked as well in the pros. She got a really tough match today so that must give her a lot of confidence. A big hitter. I know it’s going to be a really tricky one. I need to just gather my strength and prepare as best as possible for the next match.”

Potapova embraced her flair for drama with a laugh. “I think from the set down, I win pretty much everything when I go set down,” she said. “Maybe I should start the match already with a set down. There is no point playing the first set. But yeah, jokes aside, I had couple of matches when I was match point down or huge difference down and I turned it around. I have experience in that, let’s say.”

For Raducanu, this Australian Open run builds on reclaimed ground, her forehand’s evolution key against Potapova’s blasts. Check the Australian Open: Scores, Draws, and Order of play to track the path ahead. Follow @EmmaRaducanu, @wwos, @espn, @tntsports, @wowowtennis, and #AO26 for the buzz, including highlights from January 18, 2026 like that improbable point. On these Melbourne hard courts, where pace rewards the bold, Raducanu’s mental steel positions her to climb deeper, each match forging the poise for Slams’ demands.