Emma Raducanu admits what she immediately did in locker room after Wimbledon defeat

Emma Raducanu admitted that devouring a KitKat in the locker room was the first thing she did after crashing out of Wimbledon. The 22-year-old had the ultimate challenge in the third round of the Grand Slam as she came up against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Friday.

Despite a spirited display where she broke the serve of the Belarusian powerhouse on more than one occasion, she ultimately came up short and lost 7-6 (6) 6-4 in just under two hours 7-6 (6) 6-4.

Raducanu impressed during her time at the All England Club this month where she recorded a win over former champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second round, with the Croatian having won Wimbledon back in 2023.

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Following her loss to Sabalenka, the tennis star spoke to media at her post-match press conference where she was asked on what her process is when having to deal with a defeat of that magnitude.

As she appeared to be pondering over her answer while the question was being asked, Raducanu revealed that diving into the famous English chocolate bar was the first thing she did when heading back to the locker room after waving goodbye to the SW19 crowd.

"Well, [the] first thing I did was have a KitKat in the changing rooms," she said before laughing off her confession. She did then delve into how long it'll take her to come to terms with the result but remained buoyant about her future.

"I'll probably find it tough to sleep tonight or I'll be so exhausted and crash but it's going to take me a few days to process that," she added. But, at the same time, it really motivates me.

"It could be a good thing that I'm like, 'Okay I want to get straight back to work,' because it's not far but there's still a lot of things that I want to do better to really solidify my game so that in the big moments, I feel like I can back myself a little bit more."

There's certainly no shame in losing to the best player in the world in Sabalenka and Raducanu admitted that she recognises that despite the pain of losing clouding that realisation.

"I think I'm just very self-critical," she continued. "It's hard to see. Of course, I'm very proud of being competitive on the court. I think I would rather that than it being completely one way. But yes, there are positives. Right now it's so soon after the match. I think it's better for me to kind of feel a bit of the pain right now and then process it better that way.

"I think it's difficult to see that right now, having just come off. It's hard. It's hard to take a loss like that. At the same time, I'm playing Aryna, who is No. 1 in the world, a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort today."

Currently ranked 40th in the world, Raducanu said before her battle with Sabalenka, she felt "gulfs away" from the top players in the world but her display has given her more confidence for when she graces the court opposite another high-ranking player again.

"It does give me confidence because I think the problem before was that I felt like I was gulfs away from the very top. Having a match like that where I had chances in both sets, it does give me confidence. At the same time, it's very difficult to take right now.

"It gives me confidence that I'm not as far away as I perhaps thought before the tournament. I think before previously when I was playing those top-5 players, it was pretty convincing, the loss. So I think today to really push Aryna to the top, it does give me confidence."

Raducanu's focus next month turns to the US Open, where she will be competing in the mixed doubles with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz.