Emma Raducanu will carry British hopes alone into the second round of the women’s singles at the Australian Open after Katie Boulter was beaten by Belinda Bencic.

Boulter has slumped to 113 in the rankings and only snuck into the draw at the last minute — to find herself paired with arguably the most in-form player in the women’s game.

The British No. 4 at least rallied in the second set before slipping to a 6-0, 7-5 defeat and joining Sonay Kartal in making a first-round exit.

Boulter has reset after a very disappointing 2025 season, switching coaches to American Michael Joyce and channelling the excitement of her forthcoming wedding to Alex De Minaur.

He was sat in her courtside box on Margaret Court Arena but finding positivity in the first set was difficult, with Boulter winning just 10 points and losing it to love after only 26 minutes.

Katie Boulter has struggled for form in recent months. WILLIAM WEST / AFP via Getty Images

It appeared a nightmare draw for Boulter, with Bencic in some of the best form of her career having defeated Iga Swiatek this month to return to the top 10 little over a year after coming back to the sport following the birth of daughter Bella.

Boulter was able to stop the run of games against her at the start of the second set, though, earning warm support from the crowd, who have adopted her as one of their own.

And she built on her foothold impressively, starting to really trouble Bencic with her big forehand and hitting straight back after the 10th seed broke to lead 4-3.

But Bencic stepped up the pace again and this time Boulter could not find a response.

Kartal out after self-declared worst performance in years

Earlier, Kartal declared her performance the worst she had played in years.

There was no disgrace for the British No. 2, who is ranked 66th, in losing to 31st seed Anna Kalinskaya, but it was the manner of her 7-6 (3), 6-1 defeat than rankled.

Kartal arrived in Melbourne on the back of a very narrow loss to Elina Svitolina in Auckland that seemed to have carried on her momentum from a strong end to last season.

She initially had the upper hand against Kalinskaya but ultimately paid for relying too much on the Russian’s errors.

Kartal played a poor tie-break and her chances of a comeback evaporated as Kalinskaya opened up a 5-0 lead in the second set.

Sonay Kartal’s Australian Open campaign ended at the first-round stage. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“Obviously very disappointed,” said Kartal, who is still looking for her first career victory at the tournament.

“For me, it was not my finest at all, even my base level was not really there today, which is something I rely on.

“I think, if I could go back out there now and play that match again, I’d play it a completely different way.

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“Maybe she did raise her level but my level dipped to a level that hasn’t been that low for years, probably.

“I ended last year feeling good and feel like I was training well. The warm-up this morning, I was playing well.

“I’m super disappointed, especially after Auckland. It’s a long old season ahead so I’m not going to look too deep into this.”