Raducanu’s upbeat year offers another chance to test herself against the best

British No 1 faces big-serving Elena Rybakina in US Open third round while Cameron Norrie takes on Novak Djokovic

At the start of a new season in January 2022, Emma Raducanu’sfirst full year on the WTA tour, she was swimming in doubt. Not only was she trying to take her next steps forward after a life-changing summer, her off-season had been ravaged by Covid-19, which forced her off the court for weeks in December. In her first match of the season, she found herself up against Elena Rybakina in Sydney. She left the court having lost 6-0, 6-1.

That first encounter between the players was a good representation of the myriad difficulties Raducanu would navigate over the next few years: the pressure from her sudden rise, her underpowered game against the best players in the world and the fact that there was always another physical issue around the corner.