Wimbledon: Emma Raducanu aims to repay the faith at 'most beautiful place to play tennis'

Emma Raducanu has credited Wimbledon with acting as the springboard to her tennis success.

The 21-year-old made a breakthrough at the All England Club in 2021, reaching the fourth round before going on her remarkable run in New York, where she won the US Open.

She returned to her home slam for the first time since 2022 this week after a lengthy lay-off following surgery, winning her opening match against Renata Zarazua 7-6, 6-3.

Today, she is the late match on Court No1 against the vastly experienced Elise Mertens and is aiming to harness the belief from her first Wimbledon outings three years ago. "As long as I keep believing, I'll be happy," she said.

"I obviously had a great run in 2021. I think that was the start of everything.

"I gained so much confidence from the wins here. I was just playing insane, like everything I touched was landing in and I was hitting some of the craziest shots. I took that into the rest of the year."

Raducanu has tumbled down the world rankings because of her spell on the sidelines following operations on both her wrists and an ankle.

She required a wildcard to make the main draw of the singles and is hoping to repay that faith with a long run.

Emma Raducanu

"I'm just grateful for the opportunity to play in this tournament," she said. "I think it's my favourite place to play tennis. I think it's the most beautiful place to play tennis."

Raducanu has shown excellent form in the build-up to this tournament, reaching the semi-finals at Nottingham and beating a top-10 player for the first time in her career in American Jessica Pegula at the subsequent event in Eastbourne.

And the Briton told the BBC: "I really love tennis at the moment. I've got a genuine smile planted on my face when I'm on the grounds here.

"I've had some good wins in some matches, which is different to the past couple of years. I'm feeling confident and relaxed. I'm just feeling free, I'm feeling light."