After a dream run to the US Open title last year, Emma Raducanu has suffered a nightmare 6-3 6-3 first round loss to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, as the clock finally struck midnight on an improbable tennis fairytale.
The 11th-seeded Briton becomes the first defending US Open champion to lose in the first round of their title defence, since Germany's Angelique Kerber in 2017.
Raducanu captivated the sporting world, when she became the first qualifier to claim a Grand Slam title, winning 10 matches at New York without dropping a set, to catapult her career into the stratosphere as one of the most marketable athletes on the planet.
Twelve months ago, Raducanu arrived at her opening match an unknown with no expectations or pressure, but this year, the 19-year-old sometimes appeared to carry the weight of world on her slender shoulders.
Not only was Raducanu defending her one and only title, but a massive 2040 of her 2756 ranking points and with those gone, the world No.11 will drop out of the top 70.
Raducanu got the contest off to a positive start, breaking Cornet at the first opportunity, but the crafty French veteran, making a record 63rd consecutive Grand Slam appearance, would immediately break back.
The two players traded breaks a second time, before Cornet broke the young Briton a third time to edge ahead 5-3 and hold serve to secure the 1-0 lead.
That was the first set taken from Raducanu at Flushing Meadows, but not the last.
The task in front of Raducanu became a little more challenging, after she called for the trainer between sets to deal with blisters on her right hand.
When Cornet broke to open the second, the troubles mounted, but the Briton would answer with a break of her own and a second to go up 3-1.
With the crowd at Louis Armstrong court in Raducanu's corner, the contest appeared headed for a decisive third set, until Cornet shifted gears, sweeping the next five games to seal the victory.
The result extends Cornet's giantkilling run at Grand Slams this year. At the Australian Open, she reached the quarter-finals with victories over third seed Garbine Muguruza and two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep.
At the French Open, she disposed of former champion Jelena Ostapenko, before unseating world No.1 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon.
Raducanu was closely followed by Japan's Naomi Osaka, another high-profile player to make an early exit from the tournament.
The twice US Open champion - who was unseeded this year - crashed out in a in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 defeat to American Danielle Collins.
The defeat continues the 24-year-old's difficult 2022, after she lost her first-round match at at the French Open earlier this year and missed Wimbledon entirely.
"I lost to Naomi three times before, so going into the match I had a lot of information on what I kind of needed to do better, areas I could improve," said 19th seed Collins. "I felt happy just to be out here playing.
"I think when you face as many challenges as I've faced with some of the things I've been dealing with, you're kind of more grateful to kind of be out here."
The 28-year old Collins will next face Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa, who was 6-4 6-4 winner over Slovenian Kaja Juvan.
Reuters
