adminLONDON. – British number one Emma Raducanu says she “cherished every moment” in a winning start to her first Wimbledon as a Grand Slam champion.
The 19-year-old overcame a nervy start on her Centre Court debut to beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-4 6-4.
Backed by an enthusiastic home crowd, the US Open champion showed no sign of the side injury that hurt her build-up.
“I really felt like today I made that court my own and really took it in,” she said.
Raducanu burst onto the scene a year ago with a run to the Wimbledon fourth round, having come into the tournament ranked 338th in the world.
This time she arrived as the 10th seed and Grand Slam champion – and she was greeted as such by a passionate crowd that played its part in getting her through. “I’m extremely pleased to have come through that match and looking forward to hopefully playing in front of you guys again,” she said in her on-court interview.
“I’ve been feeling it (crowd support) ever since I stepped on to the practice courts, people behind me going, ‘Emma, you’ve got this’. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got this’.
“I’m just so happy to stay another day.”
She will face Caroline Garcia next after France’s former world number four edged British wild card Lily Miyazaki 4-6 6-1 7-6 (10-4).
This was a difficult draw for Raducanu against world number 46 Van Uytvanck, who reached the fourth round here in 2018 after beating then-defending champion Garbine Muguruza in the second round.
The Belgian had also won two second-tier grass titles in the run-up to Wimbledon this year.
By contrast, the Briton’s grass-court campaign had been derailed by a left side injury that forced her to retire from her Nottingham opener in the first set and ruled her out of Birmingham and Eastbourne.
It meant she arrived at Wimbledon with just seven games on grass to her name this year, and she was playing only her seventh match as a professional on the surface.
“I definitely feel that because I didn’t play tennis for two weeks, then this week I’ve hit like an hour a day. My preparation wasn’t necessarily the greatest,” Raducanu told a news conference. – BBC Sport
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter