Emma Raducanu was on the brink of tears during an emotional press conference following her first-round US Open exit.

The British superstar, who rose to fame with a surprise triumph at Flushing Meadows in 2021, was beaten 6-1 3-6 6-4 by Sofia Kenin on Tuesday.

Raducanu had to fight back tears when asked how the defeat made her feel.

“Yeah, I feel down, like I feel sad,” the 21-year-old said after a brief pause.

“This is a tournament I really want to do well in.”

She continued: “I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season.

“Obviously, the slams are over for this year, but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again.”

Raducanu has not won a match at the US Open since her remarkable victory over Leylah Fernandez in the 2021 final.

She was eliminated in the first-round during her 2022 defence and missed the 2023 edition of the tournament due to injury.

Despite a brief resurgence at Wimbledon earlier this year, it has been a torrid three years for Raducanu due to a combination of poor form and injuries.

Many were skeptical about the tennis star’s preparations for the US Open – which saw her skip the Olympics and play just one tournament since Wimbledon.

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The defeat to former Australian Open champion Kenin was Raducanu’s first competitive match in 25 days.

She admitted: “I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open.

“I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything’s automatic.

“I can learn from it. And, you know, manage my schedule slightly differently.

“It wasn’t just me. It was more of like a collective call and that’s what happened, and I can’t really change it.”

There was better news for fellow Brit Dan Evans, who beat 23rd seed Karen Khachanov in the longest-ever match at the US Open.

Evans fought back from 4-0 (15-40) down in the deciding set to claim an improbable 6-7 7-6 7-6 4-6 6-4 win in five hours and 35 minutes.