British tennis star Emma Raducanu has launched a pointed critique of the Australian Open's scheduling, branding her late-night first-round assignment as something that 'makes no sense'. The 2021 US Open champion is set to face Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew in a match scheduled for late on Sunday night, following a potential five-set men's encounter.
A Rushed Preparation for Melbourne Park
Raducanu's path to the first Grand Slam of the year has been far from ideal. She arrived in Melbourne late on Friday after a delayed flight from Hobart, where she suffered a quarter-final defeat to world number 204 Taylah Preston at the Hobart International. This chaotic travel schedule means the British number one will have had just a single practice session on the Melbourne Park courts before her competitive opener.
The tournament's new extended first round, spread across three days, could have seen her match placed on Monday. Instead, she finds herself with minimal time to acclimatise. "It's very difficult," Raducanu admitted. "You would love to have more time in the environment, more time practising, but I guess I was pretty much handed the schedule to try and turn it around."
Raducanu's Critique of the Late-Night Slot
The core of Raducanu's frustration lies in the timing of her match, which is due to follow the men's clash between Alexander Bublik and Jenson Brooksby. She explicitly questioned the logic of scheduling a women's match after a potential marathon men's five-setter. "I think it's very difficult to be scheduling women's matches after a potential five-set match," she stated. "To me, it doesn't really make as much sense."
Despite her clear displeasure, the 21-year-old is adopting a pragmatic approach. She acknowledged her initial reaction was one of surprise at the 'late one', but insists she is now focused on adaptation. "Then you deal with it, and you try and shift your day and adjust," she said, emphasising a forward-looking mindset. "I'm just trying to focus and turn it around for tomorrow."
A New Challenge and Djokovic's PTPA Exit
This late-night slot represents a novel experience for Raducanu, who compared it only to her semi-final at the US Open. She views it as a necessary learning step for a long career. Her opponent, Mananchaya Sawangkaew, is a talented 23-year-old currently ranked 195, having been sidelined for six months by injury after breaking into the top 100 last June.
In other Australian Open news, world number one Novak Djokovic provided detailed reasoning for his sudden departure from the Professional Tennis Players' Association (PTPA), which he co-founded. Djokovic cited the organisation's lawsuit against tennis's governing bodies as a "big reason" for his exit, alongside a desire to distance his personal brand from the group and disagreements over its leadership direction.
"I felt like my name was overused in pretty much every single article or communication channel," Djokovic explained. He reiterated that he still supports the principle of a player-only representative body but could no longer be directly involved.
