Emma Raducanu 'very confident' for Wimbledon as first-round opponent revealed

Emma Raducanu is confident of a strong showing at Wimbledon next week, despite bowing out in Eastbourne on Thursday.

The Briton struggled in the blustery conditions in her quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina, having picked up the impressive scalp of world No5 Jessica Pegula in the preceding round.

Following her 6-2, 6-2 defeat by the Russian, ranked 14th in the world, Raducanu struck a positive note leading up to Wimbledon.

She said: “I feel good. I think I should be very confident. I feel like I have every right to be in the position that I am now because I have been training, I have been working for it.

“Losing today means I get a day off tomorrow and then get to train at Wimbledon. You have to just spin everything to be a positive. For me, that’s how I’m going to spin it right now.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m happy to be back in London. It’s where I call home.”

Raducanu will begin her Wimbledon quest this year against No22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round. The 29-year-old Russian made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon last year.

And ahead of that opening encounter, the former US Open champion has pledged to continue her aggressive approach on the grass, despite it backfiring on Thursday in the windiest conditions in which she had ever competed.

“I always want to live and die by my strike and that’s got me quite far in other situations,” said Raducanu.

“I put some good level out again. The biggest win for me is I was able to play three matches back to back. Physically, I felt fine. That has to be a huge win, that’s a big positive.”

Elsewhere in the Wimbledon draw for the women’s singles, Katie Boulter, seeded for her home Grand Slam for the first time, faces Tatjana Maria, who reached the semi-finals in 2022.

Of the other British players, Harriet Dart takes on Bai Zhuoxuan, Fran Jones faces Petra Martic, and Heather Watson is drawn against Greet Minnen.