“She can pretty much beat anyone” Emma Raducanu’s first-round win in Wimbledon has Barbara Schett impressed
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Emma Raducanu and Barbara Schett
World No. 11 Emma Raducanu got back to winning ways as she defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Emma, the 10th seed at the Championships is one of the home favourites for the title after her breakthrough run to the 4th round at the Grand Slam last year which she later capped off by winning the 2021 US Open. Emma has been dubbed highly ever since her win in New York and the Brit is looking forward to justifying the tag.
Raducanu will now be looking to make a deep run at the Championships where if she is able to reach the 4th round, she will become the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1984 and 1985 to reach the 4th round in successive years. While many found Emma not in her best form, but her ability to secure a win despite difficulties impressed a lot of people.
“It wasn’t expected at all” Barbara Schett on Emma Raducanu’s run in 2021
Ranked outside the Top-300 and part of the main-draw through a wildcard, Raducanu grabbed the attention of the whole world by making a big run to the fourth round at the 2021 Wimbledon that saw her take a big leap in her rankings as well. Since then, Emma’s career has gone a completely different way and her return to the All-England Club was much awaited.
“I was very impressed with the win of Emma Raducanu today, a very tricky first-round opponent in Alison van Uytvanck who has already won a title on grass. We know Emma hasn’t played a lot of tennis, she was injured, she had that side strain and all the pressure in the world was on her. We remember last year she reached the fourth round and it wasn’t expected at all.
“I thought she handled herself extremely well on the court, of course, tennis-wise we know she can play better tennis we have seen the better tennis but she found solutions today against Alison and I think this victory can bring her very far at this Wimbledon. There’s a lot of pressure on Emma Raducanu, I think everybody has been talking about Wimbledon for weeks now. It was great to see the way she handled herself out on the court. She gets a lot of support from the crowd but she wants to show her best side.
“In the first set against Van Uytvanck she was a little bit nervous, still a little bit tired but in the second set you could see she felt a little more comfortable. I think that the more matches she plays at Wimbledon the more relaxed she’s going to feel. The key for her, I think for Emma, is just to focus on herself, not read any newspapers, not do too many activities around the tournament and pretty much just stay in the present and focus on herself,” said former World No. 7 Barbara Schett speaking on Eurosport.
Emma Raducanu to take on Caroline Garcia in the second round
Emma will now meet Caroline Garcia in the second round with Garcia coming into the clash with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) win over Yuriko Miyazaki in the first round. Garcia and Raducanu have played earlier with Raducanu winning the clash in 3-sets during their second-round clash at the 2022 Indian Wells Open.
“It’s a tricky one, that match against Caroline Garcia as we know she just won a title and played some of her best tennis, that’s what she said there. So, Garcia, serves very aggressively, she likes to come to the net so Emma Raducanu is going to have to adapt. She’s going to have to serve well, in that last match against Alison van Uytvanck it was a little slow, she can be more accurate too. But the crowd is going to be behind Emma Raducanu and if she is playing at a high level she can pretty much beat anyone,” added Barbara.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)