SHE’S JUST EMMAZING!
Raducanu into the last 16 and admits: Centre Court match is my dream
BRIT sensation Emma Raducanu became only the fourth British teen in Wimbledon women’s singles history to reach the fourth round with a thrilling straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea.
She follows Deborah Jevans, Glynis Coles and Laura Robson in that respect, and, after booking her place in week two — the youngest British woman to do it here at SW19 in the Open Era — she spoke of the pride she would feel if tournament chiefs were to send her out on Centre Court tomorrow.
“It would mean a lot to me to play on Centre Court,” she said.
“That’s what everyone dreams of, especially being a Brit. I would be so grateful for that opportunity – I would love to go out there and try to embrace the crowd like I did here.
“My emotions at the end were that I just couldn’t put them into words, really. “I was so overwhelmed. “The last point, I kind of just dropped my racquet and fell to the floor, it was just all so instinctive and in the moment, I had no idea what just happened. Right now I’m on such a buzz and such a high.”
Romanian Cirstea (right) had described the 18-year-old wildcard and world No.338 as ‘very, very sweet’ after being introduced to her at the start of the tournament. But the new darling of SW19 left a very, very sour taste in the world No.45’s mouth with a hugely impressive 6-3, 7-5 win.
Her win means Raducanu, who is coached by Andy Murray’s father-inlaw Nigel Sears, will now pocket at least £181,000 from her exploits at these championships – not bad, given her career earnings were just north of £28,000 a week ago.
Her drive to the fourth round also means she surpassed what Murray achieved in 2005 when, at the same age, he went out in round three in his first Wimbledon.
Raducanu, who will now meet 28-year-old Croatia-born Australian Alja Tomljanovic, added: “I was thinking, ‘Someone has to be in the second week, why not me?’”
Wimbledon chiefs let Raducanu into Court One on Friday to get a feel for the place. She said: “I came out and sat courtside for about five minutes, which was valuable because when I went out there, I sort of knew what to expect a little bit. This is the cherry at the top of tennis.”
Raducanu was 3-1 down but won eight games on the spin to take the first set and a 3-0 lead in the second.
Cirstea fought back bravely but Raducanu held her nerve in a tense battle at the end.