Emma Raducanu out to burst onto Wimbledon scene after 'living under a rock' with new first-round opponent

Emma Raducanu has described herself as “living under a rock” to get ready for her Wimbledon return.

The 21-year-old missed last year’s tournament after undergoing surgery on both her wrists and an ankle and is today the second match on Centre Court.

Raducanu opted out of the French Open and much of the clay-court season to prepare herself for the grass, but also to protect her body. Her form on grass has been good, reaching the semi-finals in Nottingham before losing an all-British clash to Katie Boulter, and then knocking out No2 seed Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne before losing in the quarter-finals.

Going into Wimbledon, she said: “I have been living a bit under a rock the last few weeks.

“I’ve been just focusing on my tennis. I haven’t really had time to do much else. The time I spent before taking off the French Open helped me just physically transition, helped me hit a few more balls on this surface.”

A year ago, Raducanu was at Wimbledon working with sponsors but admitted it was a painful experience, knowing she was missing her home Grand Slam, an event where she made her breakthrough in 2021.

“It was really hard, because you would walk through the same player tunnel, see your peers going to practice, going to play their match,” she said. “Being on the other side really stung. To be on this side of it this year is just super-special.”

Raducanu had been facing the tough challenge of meeting No22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. The Russian reached the last 16 last year and, with Raducanu ranked 135th in the world, was heavily fancied to take the win.

But this morning the 29-year-old pulled out because of illness. Her place in the draw was taken by lucky loser Renata Zarazua, of Mexico.