Emma on the royal court now
BY NEIL McLEMAN in Paris EMMA RADUCANU will join David Beckham in paying tribute to the Queen during the
Platinum Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday.
And the US Open champion has been backed to be crowned the Queen of Hearts by the British public when she returns to Wimbledon next month.
The world No.12 has recorded a special message to be shown during the jubilee celebration, together with other national treasures such as Beckham,
Stephen Fry and Dame Julie Andrews.
Raducanu will then put preparations for her home Grand Slam at centre stage.
The Bromley teenager, who lost in the second round of the French Open, leapt to national fame at SW19 last year when she won three matches.
This year as a Major champion, she will have to handle very different expectations.
Her fellow British No.1 Cam Norrie said: “She has had a lot of attention after the US Open – I don’t think it will be any easier around Wimbledon.
“Hopefully she will go and embrace it. She knows exactly how much attention she will get and hopefully she can use the home crowd to her advantage – people will be loving her.”
Norrie lost in the third round at Roland Garros to Karen Khachanov to miss a glamorous tie with No.6 seed Carlos Alcaraz tonight. The Spanish teenager remains on course to meet the winner of Tuesday’s Novak Djokovic-Rafa Nadal quarter-final in the last four.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek is the only top-10 seed left in the women’s draw after defeats for Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa. The Pole extended her winning streak to 31 matches by beating Danka Kovinic
6-3 7-5.