Beaten Stephens warns Raducanu to expect rollercoaster ride

MELBOURNE: Sloane Stephens knows only too well the vagaries of life as a professional tennis player and offered some sage advice to Emma Raducanu after being beaten by the British teenage sensation in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday (Jan 18).

The rusty American was beaten 6-0 2-6 6-1 in the battle between a former US Open champion and the current one who rocketed to stardom in astonishing fashion last September.

In some ways the match was a microcosm of what the 19-year-old Raducanu can expect over the course of the next few years as she attempts to live up to her feat of winning the US Open as a qualifier, without dropping a set.

There was a sensational 17-minute first set in which she dropped only four points, then a worrying dip as errors crept into her game and a possible defeat loomed.

In the end, Raducanu showed great maturity to regroup and dominate the deciding set, even if it was closer than the scoreline suggested.

Former world number three Stephens reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in Australia nine years ago and claimed the US Open in 2017 as an unseeded player just a couple of months after returning from nearly a year out with injury.

She also reached the 2018 French Open final but since then deep Grand Slam runs have proved elusive.

Asked what advice she would give Raducanu, Stephens said the Briton must be prepared for the ups and downs.

"I would say, the only same situation is that we won the US Open, but our situations are very different," Stephens, 28, told reporters. "I think she is carrying a whole country."

"And I think her game style, how young she is, it's a little bit of a different dynamic than I had.

"Because she is so young it's definitely a long road. She hasn't been through much