EMMA RADUCANU was proud of her fighting spirit after revealing she might not even have taken to the court for her second-round match at the Australian Open.

The US Open champion was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic in a bizarre match that saw her reduced to hitting slice forehands because of a painful blister on her right hand.

Raducanu took a medical time-out for treatment after only five games and was hampered throughout but somehow won the second set before going down in three.

“It was a difficult match,” said the 19-year-old. “I was struggling with my hand before the match. There were some people in my team that maybe didn’t want me to play but I wanted to go out there and fight through it, see how far I could get.

“But I thought it was a pretty good learning experience for me. I discovered tools about myself and my game that I didn’t know I had before so I can take some positives even from this match.”

Raducanu was forced off court for three weeks last month after contracting Covid-19, and she said: “I have been struggling with blisters since I started playing really in Australia because 21 days, no tennis, my hands got pretty soft.

“From day one, day two, I was getting blisters pop up here and there. This particular one has been with me for about five days and I have been trying to tape it for every practice, and it would harden and dry out, but then once I would play again, another layer would just keep ripping off.

“It ended up being pretty deep. It’s a bit annoying because I know it’s something that will heal in a few days, but it’s just unfortunate timing.”

Asked if she had considered pulling out during the match, as she did in her only previous grand slam defeat with breathing problems in the fourth round of Wimbledon, Raducanu added: “When I was slicing forehands and really struggling, I was, like, ‘Do I?’

“I fought so hard just to come out to Australia and play here, and I didn’t want to go out like that. So I just left it all out on the court.”

Eurosport announced that Raducanu’s first-round win over Sloane Stephens on Tuesday generated the channel’s biggest audience in the UK for five years, and victory was clearly a big relief for the teenager after a tricky few months trying to adjust to her new status.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray’s thoughts turned again to his future in tennis amid the disappointment of a second-round defeat by qualifier Taro Daniel at the Australian Open.

At 120 in the world, the Japanese is the lowest-ranked player Murray has ever lost to at a grand slam, and he made no attempt to hide how much it hurt after going down 6-4 6-4 6-4.

“I’m really, really disappointed,” said Murray. “Very frustrated. A tough loss for me that’s for sure.”

For all the high moments like his five-set win over Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round on Tuesday, Murray desperately wants to be challenging in the latter stages of slams again and this was a dispiriting reality check.

The 34-year-old questioned his future after losing heavily in the third round of Wimbledon last year and it was on his mind again here.

Asked if he plans to be back in Melbourne next year, Murray said: “I mean, yeah. But not if I do what I did tonight too often this season.

“This is a really important year for me for a number of reasons and I want to perform well in the big events. For me, tonight is not good enough in that respect.

“Making second rounds of slams is not something I find particularly motivating. I want to be doing better than that. It depends on how I get on this year results wise and how I perform in the big events.”