Emma Raducanu said she intends to ignore any negativity and focus on the joy of returning to Wimbledon and her debut on the Central Court for her first-round match against Alison Van Whitvank.
“I think I was so new to it last year, so I didn’t even think about anything,” said Raducanu, 19. “This year I accept all this as a positive thing. Everyone wants me to do well and they are behind me and they will applaud. So there is nothing negative or that I feel overwhelmed because they will just support me. “
Raducanu, the 10th placed, has a challenging task in the first round on Monday. Van Whitvank is a veteran of the grass courts with her weapons and the game of all the courts that thrive on the surface.
In their only previous match, Raducanu defeated the Belgian 7-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Chicago 125 tournament last year on a hard court, the last tournament before she won the US Open. Then the Belgian was the first and Raducanu was not placed, but now the roles have been reversed.
As Raducanu contemplates arriving on the big stage last year, when she was awarded a late main schedule after just finishing A-Levels and returning from a 16-month break, she says she’s doing slowly. She compared her lack of preparation then due to exams to her current scenario after the side tension she received at the beginning of the grass season, which meant that she did not finish a match of the French Open. She will approach the challenge without expectations.
“It’s funny because [with] in the exams I studied nine or 10 hours a day, I had my head in a book, “she said. “And going out is just such a relief to move to the end. Last month I didn’t necessarily have the best preparation, I didn’t play tennis for two and a half weeks, I took it day after day.
“So in that respect, I feel like I shouldn’t have any expectations of myself. Other opponents played a few games each week, studied, got a little better on the grass. Basically, I want to swing here this week. But I feel good. ”
Although Raducanu has always been known for his brilliant talent, her anonymity at the start of last year’s event was reflected in the fact that she had very few media requests both before the tournament and after her first victory against Vitaly Dyatchenko.
“I was just training,” she said. “I definitely had some nerves and anxiety. I had the feeling that this was a very new experience. But I felt very confident because I had a great week of training, hitting with some top players. I managed to hit Garbine [Muguruza] and this gave me great confidence. I was just looking forward to it, relieved that my exams were over. ”
Raducanu will not be the only young British Wimbledon player with high goals, as 20-year-old Jack Draper wants to leave his mark. Last year, Draper followed a groundbreaking quarterfinal series at the Queen’s Club, knocking out Novak Djokovic in the first round.
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After being ranked out of the top 300 at the start of last year’s grass season, Draper is now in the top 100 after winning four championships in the first four months of the year. Last week, he won his second victory in the top 15 of the grass season against world number 15, Diego Schwartzman, on his way to his first ATP semifinal in Eastbourne.
However, no matter how he presents himself at Wimbledon, there will be no holiday posts on social media. While his opponent in the first round, the replacement character Zizu Bergs, is known for his devotion to TikTok, Draper’s interest in social media is so low that he doesn’t even post his photos on Instagram.
“I just think a lot of people have enough to say there,” he said. “I want you to watch me and be motivated and inspired by me as a tennis player, not what I will say on social media.
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