“I want to be playing a different way, and I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on,” Raducanu said.
“There are definitely pockets of me playing how I want to play and it comes out in flashes, which is a positive. But it’s not how I want to be consistently every day.
“It’s not going to fall into place straight away, but the more I work on how I want to be playing, it will be more of my identity every time I step onto the court.
“I need to work at that, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”
While Raducanu improved to beat 197th-ranked Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the first round, she looked undercooked against Potapova.
Russian-born Potapova also made a huge amount of errors in a poor-quality first set which started with five breaks of serve before Raducanu pulled away.
Raducanu served for the first set at 5-4 but was broken back by Potapova, who promptly pulled away in the tie-break.
After Potapova took a lengthy break at the end of the set, she made a fast start to the second and broke twice for a 3-0 lead.
The pair exchanged breaks before Potapova asserted her authority and cruised to victory, with a subdued Raducanu making a hasty exit.
Eyes had inevitably drawn towards the potential meeting with Sabalenka – but this loss was a sharp reminder of where Raducanu’s level remains.
