Emma Raducanu is a global tennis icon and a true superstar of British tennis – but she will have to wait another year to try to recapture her best form at the US Open where she won the title in glorious style as a teenager in 2021.

The tennis world was absolutely stunned when she romped her way to success in New York three years ago, without dropping a set during the tournament, as a precocious teenager.

Watch the US Open live on Sky Sports Tennis across the next fortnight.

Since then, Raducanu’s journey has been rocked by injuries and setbacks but she still has a long bright future ahead of her.

Here are all the key questions as the Brit after her latest tilt at glory over in the United States…

How did Raducanu fare at this year’s US Open?

Raducanu was knocked out in the opening round of the US Open by Sofia Kenin in a battle of former Grand Slam champions on Tuesday night in New York.

The USA’s Kenin had previously won the Australian Open. She sent Raducanu packing with a 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory.

Kenin ripped through the opening set by winning six straight games before Raducanu upped her level in the second set.

However, Raducanu ran out of steam, dropping serve with a double fault in the fifth game of the decider as she was broken and there was no way back from there as Kenin clinically saw it out.

What did Raducanu say?

Raducanu said: “I feel down, I feel sad. Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in so… after the first set I was outplayed completely and I think I did well to equal it.

“The third set was pretty high-level tennis and I think certain parts of my game in dealing with her speed of shot, dealing with her pace, certain parts I actually executed better than in previous matches.

“I came across a very in-form opponent, and she played really well.”

How has Raducanu performed in 2024?

The 2021 US Open champion has had broadly positive results since returning from an eight-month injury lay off last year, after closing down her 2023 season early following a first-round exit in Stuttgart.

Raducanu helped steer Great Britain to a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup finals as they beat home favourites France on clay, and carried on that form into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Stuttgart.

She lost to world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals – a rematch from the same stage two years ago, and her best performance this year. She also beat former two-time Stuttgart champion and three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber in the opening round.

It has not been all plain sailing, though, for the 21-year-old since her return to the WTA tour. She failed to win any back-to-back matches until reaching the third round of Indian Wells.

There were impressive moments though, with her victory over Marie Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi before being denied a spot in the quarter-finals by Ons Jabeur, probably standing out as the real high point.

On grass this summer, Raducanu was impressive, reaching the semi-final in Nottingham where she was beaten by Katie Boulter before defeating Sloane Stephens and second seed Jessica Pegula in Eastbourne.

She then delivered the most promising tennis yet of her comeback by making it to the round of 16 at Wimbledon following standout wins over Elise Mertens and ninth seed Maria Sakkari, before being halted by qualifier Lulu Sun.

At the Citi Open in Washington D.C., Raducanu narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot after losing to Paula Badosa in a mammoth three-set match which lasted just under three hours, having dispatched eighth seed Elise Mertens earlier in the tournament.

Have injuries affected Emma Raducanu this season?

Unfortunately, during the 2024 season, injury concerns have returned again at times too – notably at the Miami Open, with Raducanu forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a lower back injury after being awarded a wildcard for the event.

Raducanu was also hampered by a stomach bug during her loss at the first major of the year, the Australian Open, but her tennis was encouraging and she stepped up her comeback with victory over Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi thereafter.

Raducanu sat out the second major of the year, withdrawing just 24 hours before French Open qualifying was due to begin, in a bit to give herself a “chance to keep fit for the rest of the year”.

Sadly, that did not go entirely to plan. An untimely slip on the Centre Court grass stopped all of Raducanu’s momentum as she was putting together an impressive run at Wimbledon.

In the first game of the deciding set of her last 16 clash with Lulu Sun, Raducanu lost her footing whilst sliding for a forehand, then had to call on the trainer. Raducanu received treatment on her lower left leg and the middle of her back – which appeared to be bothering her throughout the match – and although she saw out the match, slumped to defeat just as she seemed to be finding her best form.

Having recovered from surgeries in 2023, Raducanu continued to manage injury risk, deciding against representing Team GB at the Paris Olympics because she did not want to switch back to playing on clay at Roland Garros ahead of the hard court tournaments in the USA.

My main goal is to stay healthy injury-wise, sickness-wise. Also another goal is consistency.

What is Emma Raducanu’s current ranking?

Emma Raducanu is currently ranked No. 72 in the world, some 39 places behind current British No. 1 Katie Boulter, and just six places ahead of Harriet Dart.

Although it is some way off her career high ranking of 10, which she held back in July 2022, it is worth noting that Raducanu has played in just 11 WTA Tour events, compared to 21 for Boulter and 32 for Dart during the calendar year so far.

How many Grand Slam titles has Raducanu won?

So far, the 2021 US Open victory remains Emma Raducanu’s sole victory in a major tournament.

She also reached the fourth round in Wimbledon that year, a feat she matched this year – and which she might have bettered were it not for the injury problems she encountered.

At the Australian and French Open, she has never progressed past the second round.

Where and when is Raducanu playing next?

Raducanu plans to regroup before playing at the Korea Open in Seoul on September 16 – live on Sky Sports Tennis.

“Until then, I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season,” Raducanu said

“Obviously the Slams are over for this year, but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again [in January].”

Watch the WTA and ATP Tours throughout 2024 on Sky Sports Tennis, including the US Open from August 26 to September 8.