The 23-year-old British No. 1 only arrived in Australia on Saturday having reached the quarter-finals of a warm-up tournament in Hobart before her flight to Melbourne was delayed.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the 2021 US Open champion is scheduled to begin her quest for a second Grand Slam title less than 48 hours later, where she will face Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew.<\/p>\n
“It’s very difficult,” Raducanu said. “You would love to have more time in the environment, more time practising, but I guess I was pretty much handed the schedule to try and turn it around.<\/p>\n
“I have to make the most out of what is in front of me. It’s easy to complain about it, but it’s not going to help.”<\/p>\n
With men’s 10th seed Alexander Bublik’s five-set clash against Jenson Brooksby scheduled before Raducanu’s opening match, starting at 7pm local time, there is a chance Raducanu may not take to Margaret Court Arena until nearly midnight.<\/p>\n
![\"picture\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-04dca9b5-46d2-46c8-85f8-44820cf2d321-85-2560-1440.jpeg\")
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Raducanu speaking to the press ahead of the Australian Open on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Image credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
“I think it’s very difficult to be scheduling women’s matches after a potential five-set match,” a concerned Raducanu added.<\/p>\n
“To me, it doesn’t really make as much sense. After seeing it, the initial reaction is, ‘Oh, it’s a late one’. Then you deal with it, try and shift your day and adjust.”<\/p>\n
The Australian Open has been slammed in previous years following its late finishes, with Britain’s Andy Murray famously playing until past 4am local time in 2023.<\/p>\n
Raducanu has been forced to adjust her practice time to adjust to the late-night conditions.<\/p>\n
“When I played the semis of the US Open I played second night match, but other than that, I haven’t played that late,” she said.<\/p>\n
“So it’s a new experience, something that I need to learn to do. Hopefully if I’m playing this game for a long time, I’ll probably be in this situation again, so it’s a good learning step to try and adjust and deal with that day.”<\/p>\n
Despite the tricky scheduling, Radunacu is fired up for her fifth appearance at the tournament, where she reached the third round last year.<\/p>\n
“I haven’t really taken the results in the past few weeks too seriously,” she said. “I know I am working my way into it and, even this week, I know I still am on the way to where I want to be. <\/p>\n
“I’m very happy with the last few weeks – how I was able to be very matter of fact about it, not too emotional.”<\/p>\n
How to watch the 2026 Australian OpenAll the action from Melbourne will be available live and on-demand via TNT Sports and its streaming platform discovery+<\/a>.<\/p>\n TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.<\/p>\n The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+<\/a>, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports and entertainment in one destination.<\/p>\n You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.<\/p>\n