Emma Raducanu and Emma Navarro had different fortunes on day seven (Image: Getty)
suffered a humbling defeat to Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open – and then immediately identified where she needs to improve her game.
The five-time Grand Slam winner denied being “ruthless” but suggested that the British No.2 “lost her belief a bit” as the Polish superstar won the last 11 games. She will now face a German lucky loser.
is now the last British player left in the singles – and he has revealed he has been using a “breathing coach” before facing in the heat of the day on Sunday.
On the hottest day of the tournament so far, Elena Rybakina struggled with a back injury and needed seven match points to reach the fourth round
But Ons Jabeur, who the Russian-born Kazakh beat in the 2022 final is out after losing to Emma Navarro. And the American daughter of a billionaire credited her dad for her victory.
And American Alex Michelson has followed in the footsteps of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi after reaching the last 16 of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Express Sport rounds up what else you may have missed overnight at the …
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Emma is out
The 2021 US Open champion admitted she had to improve her new serve after getting a “harsh” Grand Slam lesson from .
The Polish superstar won the last 11 games as she raced to a 6-0 6-1 victory in only 70 minutes.
It is the worst Grand Slam defeat of the British No.2’s career – and equals her biggest loss to Elena Rybakina in Sydney three years ago.
She got away with 20 double faults in her first two wins over No.26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrov and world No.35 Amanda Anisimova.
But world No.2 Swiatek is a different class and Raducanu, who has remodelled her service action in the off-season, only held serve once and was broken five times.
“Today the scoreline was obviously quite harsh,” said the world No.61. “Credit to Iga, she played good tennis, but I think it was a little bit of her playing well and me not playing so well. That combination is probably not good and resulted in today.
“I think the thing I want to improve is serving. The first two matches I got away with it against two top players because I was able to defend and move, use the rest of my game. But I think that needs to improve.”
Emma Raducanu was beaten 6-1, 6-0 by Iga Swiatek (Image: Getty)
“Perfect” Swiatek verdict on Raducanu
The five-time Grand Slam Swiatek winner felt the world No.61 “lost her belief a bit” after she thrashed her fellow Grand Slam winner in only 70 minutes.
The world No.2 claimed she played the “perfect” match as she won the final 11 games to race to a 6-1 6-0 victory in the first match in the Rod Laver Arena.
It is the 72nd time the Polish star has bagelled an opponent at Tour level. She did not face a break point in the match and hit 24 winners as she reached the fourth round here for the loss of only 10 games.
“For sure I felt great,” said the five-time Major champion. “I felt like the ball is listening to me. This match was kind of perfect for me.
“I felt like she might have lost her belief a bit. But honestly, you never know what’s going on on the other side of the net. I wouldn’t say I’m ruthless. I just try to have the same kind of attitude and same kind of focus no matter what the score is.
Taking advantage of your fortune
German lucky loser Eva Lys was given only 15 minutes notice before playing Aussie Kimberly Birrell in the first round.
Today she beat unseeded Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 4-6 6-3 6-3 to become only the second lucky loser in 30 years to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam. And the world No.128 is the first to achieve the feat since the moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
She is already guaranteed to bank A$350,000 – and faces Swiatek next. “I am really excited to play her,” said the German. “It is the reason I play tennis. We had booked my flights home on Sunday. I am glad we get to change it.”
Eva Lys is making the most of her chance at this Grand Slam (Image: Getty)
Billionaire’s bottle
US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro credited her billionaire father for teaching her “toughness” as beat to reach the fourth round,
The No.8 seed won 6-4 3-6 6-4 – her third straight three-set match. She is now a Tour-high of 23-9 in three-set matches since the start of 2024.
“I love three sets. I love tennis so much I can’t resist, I gotta play three sets,” she laughed.
And she said six-hour bike rides with siblings with her father Ben Navarro – the founder of the Sherman Financial Group who was watching courtside – had built her stamina.
“We made up a term, biking and crying,” Navarro said. “I learned a lot of toughness growing up. A lot of thanks goes to him.”
Michelsen joins the legends
Giant-killing world No.42 followed up his first-round defeat of by beating No.19 seed Karen Khachanov 6-3 7-6 6-2.
Michelsen, 20, is the youngest American since Sampras and four-time AO champion Andre Agassi at the 1990 US Open to record multiple top-20 wins at a grand slam.
“I played unbelievable in that match,” he said. “I don’t even really know what’s going on.”
Alex Michelsen is enjoying an incredible tournament in Melbourne (Image: Getty)
The heat is on for Draper against Alcaraz
Facing the French and champion at any time is tough. And the British No.1 has played three five-set epics to reach the fourth round – and been on court for over twice as long as the Spaniard.
But after Draper finished his win over Aussie Aleksandar Vukic at 12.55am on Saturday morning, he is being sent back out not before 3.30pm on Sunday afternoon to face the world No.3. Temperatures are forecast to hit 34 degrees – the hottest day of the tournament.
But Draper has revealed he has been working with a new “breathing coach” has helped him stay calm in the heat of battle at the .
The No.15 seed said: “I had a lot of problems with my sinuses when I was younger, so I breathe a lot through my mouth. It’s not efficient so I have been trying to breathe through my nose a lot better and a lot more. I think that’s helping me to go for longer.”
Former champion overcomes back injury and wobbles
Russian-born Kazakh Elena Rybakina finally took her seventh match point to beat Ukrainian No.32 seed Dayana Yastremska 6-3 6-4.
But the No.6 seed was also battling a back injury in the John Cain Arena.
“Honestly I didn’t know how it was going to go,” she said. “It came all of a sudden. I knew it would be difficult for me to stay in the rallies so I was more aggressive and risked a bit more. Does it feel better now? Not really. I will see my physio and hopefully he will do some magic.”