Australian Open 2022: Resilient Emma Raducanu defeated by Danka Kovinic

Britain's Emma Raducanu was hampered by a blister on her racquet hand as she was knocked out of the Australian Open in the second round by Danka Kovinic.

The US Open champion raced into a 3-0 lead before needing treatment on her hand and losing the opening set.

The 19-year-old showed remarkable resilience to fight back and win the second but eventually fell to a 6-4 4-6 6-3 defeat on Margaret Court Arena.

Montenegro's Kovinic is into the last 32 of a Grand Slam for the first time.

«It was a really nice experience to play Emma here and make the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time after many years,» said Kovinic, the world number 98.

«Emma has had amazing results, winning a Grand Slam at such a young age. She is an amazing talent. I'm just so happy I could play such a high level.

»I was a little bit low in my energy through the third set so I tried to focus on myself, not show much emotion and save my energy."

Raducanu had only lost one Grand Slam match before this meeting and while she may ultimately have been defeated, the Briton will surely have won even more admirers for her gutsy display.

The teenager has been spending almost 12 hours every day on site to «get my business done» — that, she says, means training, having lunch, doing recovery, more training, gym work and then more recovery.

That extra work initially paid dividends as Raducanu delivered the perfect start, breaking in the opening game and storming into a 3-0 lead.

She looked set to replicate her first-round meeting against Sloane Stephens, where she claimed the opening set without dropping a game, before being taken to a deciding set for the first time in her Grand Slam career.

For all Raducanu's extra preparation she will not have anticipated a blister