Raducanu does not mind being the centre of attention at Wimbledon
‘Everyone out there on court wants me to do well… they will be cheering’: Emma Raducanu insists she does not mind being under the spotlight on Wimbledon Centre Court debut, and plans to feed off the crowd
- Emma Raducanu is hoping the crowd will be behind her again at Wimbledon
- US Open champion Raducanu will meet Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round
- She has never played on Centre Court and has not practiced there recently
Emma Raducanu will take her first ever steps onto Centre Court on Monday, pledging that it will not all end like her Wimbledon of twelve months ago.
The US Open champion will seek to feed off the energy of the crowd when she meets Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck, a year on from having to retire from her fourth round match on Number One.
Raducanu’s rise is such that she has never played on the main arena, and she has not been among the select few able to enjoy a brief practice on the turf in the past few days.
Emma Raducanu has insisted she does not mind being the centre of attention at Wimbledon
‘Everyone out there on court wants me to do well and are behind me and they are going to be cheering,’ said the 19 year-old from Kent.
‘So there’s nothing negative or to feel overwhelmed about because they’re just going to be rooting for me.
‘I watched the women’s final last year on Centre actually. It does bear some similarities to No. 1 Court but it has got a special feeling about it just because of all the history and prestige.’
Raducanu says she will feed off the energy of the crowd when she faces Alison Van Uytvanck
Andy Murray will follow Raducanu onto the Centre, with both of them having recovered from injuries that affected their build-up.
Murray recently revealed how he was snubbed by coaches who felt they could not improve his fortunes – but not by Ivan Lendl.
On Lendl, he said: ‘We’ve had a lot of success in the past. He still believes in me. There are not loads of coaches, people out there, that have done over this last period and he has.
Andy Murray will follow the star into the Centre, having recovered from an injury of his own
‘It hasn’t hurt me. In many ways it’s been like a motivation.
‘From memory, up until this period, there was maybe one or two times when I’d spoken to coaches about potentially working with me and it hadn’t worked out. But it had come off most of the time and worked out.
‘This time round, yeah, I got turned down by a lot of coaches. That was difficult. That’s also why I’m grateful that Ivan has come back to work with me and help me try and achieve what it is I want to achieve.’
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