Emma takes centre stage at last and insists she’s ready to rock
British No1 says ‘it’s full steam ahead’ after fears over fitness
LIGHTS, camera, action! Emma Raducanu declared last night that she will be ready for her first ever appearance on Centre Court.
After a week of uncertainty, the US Open champion assured us she will be fit for tomorrow’s opening round at Wimbledon, hoping to complete a match for the first time since May 25.
Her tone was far more upbeat than some of her body language has been on the practice courts of SW19.
She will form part of a blockbuster first day line-up, coming on between men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Raducanu stopped short of asking what all the fuss has been about and admitted there was not always the guarantee she would recover from her sidestrain sufficiently.
‘This week was a good build-up,’ she insisted. ‘There were moments earlier on in the week we weren’t really sure. We were sort of going to see how the week goes but it went pretty well. Now it’s full steam ahead.’
Raducanu encouraged doubts with her unexplained absence from a practice session on Friday.
‘Yesterday we just had to react to the situation. I already practised in the morning, so we all collectively thought it was the best decision to pass on the afternoon session and stay fresh,’ she explained.
Raducanu is still at the stage where she is a strange mix of being a Grand Slam champion while garnering new experiences.
A packed Centre Court will be one, while yesterday was the first time she had been in Wimbledon’s main media auditorium with people actually allowed in, rather than everything being conducted via remote video. There is still a sense of wonderment at mixing with legends of the sport.
She said: ‘I’m 19. Just to be watching Rafa and Novak at such close range, to be able to try to learn from them, walk among these great players, it’s still special.
‘I don’t think it really ever changes when you’re watching those greats. It’s amazing to have them around giving such a great example.
‘It’s only my second Wimbledon and I’m really new to this still.’
For all the upbeat talk, she has one of the tougher first-round draws against world No 46 Alison Van Uytvanck, who has won a tournament on grass this summer.
Raducanu said: ‘I played her in August last year. She was the top seed at the time (Raducanu won in straight sets). Game-wise I back myself against anyone. I feel if I really put my mind to it and commit, then I can be pretty good.
‘She’s a really tricky opponent, especially on grass. This surface definitely suits her. She plays a pretty quick, high-tempo game.’
The true picture of Raducanu’s game is hard to assess, given how disrupted her preparations have been.
In practice yesterday she gradually improved after a ropey start and was hitting some serves full tilt, but also looked in some discomfort by the end.
When she last played Van Uytvanck it was off the back of her Wimbledon fourthround appearance, although her reputation was nothing like what it became post-New York.
‘Everyone knows the sort of things I was doing last year, everyone wants to beat me,’ said Raducanu. ‘I take it as a compliment if players are raising their game against me because they want to do well.
‘That is definitely going to help me as a tennis player longer term because if players are raising their game against me, I have to raise my level, too.’
The downside of that is massively raised expectations. It might have been easier to live in the parallel universe of having, say, merely qualified in New York and then lost respectably in the first round.
‘If I hadn’t won the US Open, I think the way I’ve been heading, it wouldn’t be necessarily a bad thing, result-wise you know?,’ the British No 1 said.
‘I’ve learned that I’m resilient. I always knew I had that, but just keep getting back up.
‘I said “fall down 10 times, get up 11 times”. I feel like I’m lucky that I get this lesson at such an early age.’