Danka Kovinic ends Raducanu’s run at the Aussie Open

Danka Kovinic has knocked out British No 1 Emma Raducanu from the Australian Open and is hoping for more big results this tournament. Raducanu was making her Australian Open debut this week and impressed against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the first round.

Kovinic is more experienced on the WTA Tour, but had never reached the third round of a Grand Slam.

On paper, Raducanu was the strong favourite and that showed early on with the Brit racing to a 3-0 lead.

But blistering issues on her hands forced Raducanu to take a medical time out and she was clearly uncomfortable throughout.

Kovinic took full advantage of the her opponent’s misgivings to take the opening set, but Raducanu fought back to force a decider.

Neither player was able to build up a lot of momentum with both of them guilty of losing serve easily.

More tension was obvious in the third set though with the pair playing tighter but Raducanu was the first to lose focus.

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A bizarre stoppage in play followed with a seagull flying into the stadium and that appeared to disrupt Kovinic as she then lost serve.

But Raducanu was unable to capitalise and eventually lost out to the 27-year-old.Kovinic now goes through to the third round where she could face Simona Halep.