Emma Raducanu makes memorable discovery which could bring her back to Eastbourne sooner rather than later

The 21-year-old’s Eastbourne adventure came to an end on Thursday (June 27) after a straight sets defeat in the quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina.

Raducanu first took to Instagram with a three-word story, which read: “Thank you Eastbourne.”

In a follow up post, she added: “Really tricky conditions today. Got to take the positives from this week and look forwards only. On the plus side, found some of the best coffee… keep smiling.”

Raducanu said earlier this week that she was enjoying her time at the seaside – and was the happiest she’s been since winning the US Open in 2021, aged just 18.

"For me, I love being here,” she told Sussex World.

"The weather, especially, is stunning. When it's like this, the seaside is even nicer.

"You've got live music at night on the beach. It's a nice happy, relaxed place to be. It's different away from the buzz of London which is also nice.

"I love London, it's where I grew up. It's my favourite place in the world but nice to escape from time to time. Everyone who lives in London would agree it's nice to get out of the city sometimes."

Having earned a first-ever win over a top 10 player when she dispatched Jessica Pegula in the second round, Raducanu struggled to adapt to the windy conditions in a 6-2 6-2 defeat to No.6 seed Daria Kasatkina.

But while she was knocked out of the Rothesay International, Raducanu believes that she is peak physical shape ahead of a return to Wimbledon, a year after missing the competition to undergo wrist surgery.

Raducanu has been handed a wild card for the tournament and is confident that she can put in a good showing. She will face Russian 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first-round.

Before the draw, Raducanu said: “I’m pleased to have had three matches, I think it builds towards my match fitness, my bank of experience playing in all sorts of conditions. Today especially, it was very difficult and I just didn’t handle it very well. I think I need to learn to be more willing to adapt.

“I put some good level out again and to be able to back up a week like Nottingham, obviously I’m very happy with. The biggest win for me is that I was able to play three matches back-to-back, physically I felt fine. It wasn’t to do with anything being in pain.

“Three high-level matches and yesterday was close to three hours, plus the warm-up before, I played almost four hours on court. This morning I pulled up completely fine, I was surprised about that. That has to be a huge win and it’s a big positive.

“I wasn’t tired at all, I was feeling really good, I think I just dealt with the circumstances badly and was very inflexible in my approach.”

Raducanu was one of three British women in the quarter-finals, with all three unable to progress to the last four. Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart both lost in straight sets.

Britain’s Billy Harris remains in the men’s singles though and will take on Australian Max Purcell this afternoon (Friday, June 28) for a spot in Saturday’s final.