Wide-open fight to be last woman standing
Emma Raducanu’s us Open triumph as the then world no 150 is the prime example of how predicting women’s tennis has become a mug’s game.
Her victory was the spike in a growing trend which illustrates the difficulty in picking a female winner at this year’s Wimbledon.
more than five years have passed since serena Williams won her last Grand slam title, the australian Open of 2017. In isolation that tells you how, even if fully fit and prepared, her chances of claiming a 24th would be less than nailed on.
There have been 20 majors since then, which have thrown up 13 different champions. seven of those trophies belong to naomi Osaka and ash Barty. The Japanese player has again pulled out of the grass season, while defending champion Barty has retired.
Two have been won by Poland’s Iga swiatek, who is the one performer who currently stands out from the crowd. The world no 1 and French Open champion has amassed a 44-3 record this season, but has not played on the grass after Roland Garros.
Even though this would not qualify as her favourite surface, she deserves to be the clear favourite on that basis. It should also be remembered that she won junior Wimbledon in 2018, beating a 15- year- old Raducanu along the way.
Her superbly- timed groundstrokes, hit with a relatively short backswing, ought to be effective on the grass, but on a given day she should be vulnerable.
There is no clear challenger and Williams is still seventh favourite, despite not having played singles for a year and being 40 years old.
While the top 10 is historically weak at present, it can be argued that the depth in the women’s game is deeper than ever.
Wimbledon have taken the step this year of ramping up the price of tickets for the women’s final to £240, the same as the men’s. That is more a nod to the principle of equality than it is to market forces.
The tournament will be hoping that, come a week on saturday, a swiatek, Raducanu, coco Gauff or Williams is still around.
ALL eyes will be on emma raducanu as she makes her Wimbledon comeback today – but her grandmother will be too nervous to watch.
niculina raducanu, 89, says she cannot bear the stress of seeing the US open champion in her tough first round match against Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck.
the British no 1 will make her centre court debut as she returns to SW19 where she burst on to the scene with a record-breaking run in 2021.
Also returning is that great Wimbledon institution – the queue. Hundreds of fans were camped out in tents by yesterday afternoon, the first time such scenes had been witnessed sine 2019.
Because of covid, the tournament was axed in 2020 and the queue did not return last year.
Fans will also find that new gender neutral toilets have been opened after being added as part of a logistics hub built during the pandemic.
But not everyone was pleased with the development, with one long-time female fan saying: ‘Wimbledon is about tradition, it doesn’t have to follow every fad.’
Single-sex toilets will still be available throughout the grounds.
While emma’s mother renee arrived with her yesterday, her grandmother is unable to make the journey from her apartment near the centre of Bucharest, romania, because of fears over covid. But the retired teacher, who has never seen emma, 19, play professionally in person, says she will not even be tuning in.
‘I won’t be able to get to england but I can’t watch her on tV either, my heart can’t take it,’ she told the Daily mail. ‘It breaks my heart to see her pushing herself so much.
‘I feel for her when I see how much effort she has to put in and I get stressed. I don’t want to send her
any negative energy, I want to put out only positive thoughts.’
Instead Mrs Raducanu watches the matches of potential opponents. ‘But I will be there for her in spirit,’ she added. ‘I encourage her all the time. I talked to her recently over video call. I told her, “God will help you do what you have to do”. I send her my best wishes.’
The loving grandmother added: ‘If she won’t win now, I will also be there for her reassuring her that things will be better next time.
‘I am proud of what she has accomplished but she still needs to gather more strength.’
She is confident Emma’s Wimbledon will not end as it did a year ago when she retired with breathing difficulties in the fourth round. ‘Now she has a big medical team who check everything,’ Mrs Raducanu said. She has discussed Emma’s fitness with her son Ian – the star’s father – after the teenager pulled out of the Nottingham Open with a side strain. ‘He said it’s nothing serious. She is ready for Wimbledon,’ she said.
Emma has not seen her grandmother for almost three years because of lockdown and her schedule. ‘But we talk a lot.... and she sends me presents,’ added Mrs Raducanu.
The teenager, from Bromley, south- east London, said she is ready for Centre Court. ‘Everyone out there wants me to do well and are behind me and they are going to be cheering,’ she added.
Sir Andy Murray will follow Emma on to the show court today.