Emma Raducanu was first spotted at Wimbledon last year and has not left since. Venue: All England Club Dates: June 27-July 10 Coverage: Live on BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app.
Emma Raducanu’s first Wimbledon since her win at the U.S. Open is unlikely to be the place to moderate expectations.
She is the number one Briton, a Grand Slam champion and an obvious candidate for Center Court billing.
The fact that you have had problems with injuries and has not decided with a coach will do nothing to alleviate the levels of emotion, because that is not how it works in your home Grand Slam.
“It’s all about you as a British player at Wimbledon. How many newspapers, online sites, how many journalists there are,” former British number one Greg Rusedski told BBC Sport.
“We get very focused on the British, especially if there is someone we believe can win the title or have a chance to win it.
“With Emma and what she’s achieved, there’s great anticipation.”
So how will he manage it and everyone – fans, media and his opponents – expect too much?
What a difference a year ago
A year ago, a No. 10 British teenager made her Wimbledon main box debut with minimal fuss on track 18.
The reaction of the joker was noticed from 4-1 down to take the first set followed by a second set of 6-0, but then the media and the public had more important names to follow to think about it too much. .
At the end of the second round, this 18-year-old was the only British woman left in the singles draw: at the end of the third, the only Briton.
Thus, the spotlight was firmly on Emma Raducanu and the story of “Level A Student to Tennis Star” captured the imagination and headlines when she reached the fourth round.
His career ended when he retired from his round of 16 match against Ajla Tomljanovic with difficulty breathing, and then said that “the whole experience” of the whirlwind week had “caught” him.
Only two months later came that unlikely and magical triumph of the US Open, and with it the answer to how to handle the pressure of the big occasion.
But it was an unexpected event. She was a qualifier then, but is now one of 10 top seeders.
Rusedski asked for patience from everyone who saw her at Wimbledon: “Let’s give her time. This time will be the hardest.”
How is your fitness?
Emma Raducanu’s most recent tournament was in Nottingham, where she retired with lateral tension.
Since his win at the U.S. Open, Raducanu has had three half-game retirements, as a number of problems have hampered him during what is his first full year on the WTA tour.
He struggled with a blister in his racquetball hand in his defeat in the second round of the Australian Open in January, retired with a leg injury in a first-round match in Mexico in February, he was bathing his bottled feet with surgical spirit in the Billie Jean King Cup. tie in April and had a back problem in Madrid in May.
He also had Covid late last year, while his Wimbledon build-up has been less than ideal after side tension forced him to retire just seven games into his first game at Nottingham. He then retired from Birmingham due to the problem and did not play for Eastbourne.
He has previously said that his physical problems were frustrating and that he was doing his best to overcome them.
It is very possible that if his profile had not skyrocketed due to the success of the US Open, his body’s natural process becoming increasingly robust to cope with the rigors of tour life would not have called so much attention.
The mother of three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, Judy, noted earlier this month that her son had “a number of recurring physical problems” when he switched from juniors to the main tour.
In an article in The Daily Telegraph, he wrote: “In particular, he suffered many cramps. His body was perfectly prepared for the demands of the lower rungs of the circuit, but not necessarily for the strongest blows, the longer and longer rigorous rallies and stronger opponents he faced on the Tour.
“What is becoming increasingly clear is that Raducanu’s body needs time to mature.”
Is your classification a real reflection of your form?
If you take out the 2,000 ranking points you won at the U.S. Open, your ranking would be 60 years in the world instead of 11.
Clearly he earned those points, and in a brilliant way, but they have elevated him to a position that could be seen as higher than what the rest of his results would suggest is his “natural” ranking.
He has not won three games in a row since his win in New York and his two Grand Slam tournaments since then, the Australian Open and the French Open, have ended in the second round.
With the ranking, not only comes the expectation of the public but also of the other players.
“It’s different when you’re someone who can have a goal behind you,” said Raducanu, who finished 338th at Wimbledon last year earlier this year.
“Everyone increases their game, they want to play well, they want to beat you, get you out. That’s something I’ve definitely learned on this year’s tour and I’ve accepted it.”
Do off-piste activities take up too much time?
Raducanu’s agent, Max Eisenbud, does not believe he is being overburdened by commercial demands. He told the BBC Sports Desk podcast that IMG had “left millions of dollars off the table” by limiting it to a maximum of 18 sponsor days a year.
Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open when she was 19, can relate to Raducanu and the whirlwind she still finds herself in while appearing on magazine covers, is invited to bright events and fills her Instagram page with caps. for the nine major brands with which it has sponsorship deals.
With a Grand Slam title come opportunities off the track – some lucrative, some glamorous, all time-consuming.
“The best thing is that everyone knows you at home and everyone sees you as an idol,” Ostapenko, 25, told BBC Sport.
“But the hardest part was just getting used to all this pressure, things change around you, everyone wants interviews, photo shoots all these things, but you still have to practice at the same time.
“So it was very hard to get used to it and also everyone expected me to win every tournament.
“I needed a little time to get used to it. I don’t think I was ready to win a Grand Slam at that early age because it’s a dream of every tennis player and when you get it at 19 you might as well lose a little bit. motivation “.
Tracy Austin, who won the U.S. Open at the age of 16 in 1979, said she felt “she was being pulled” by all the new demands.
“My world turned upside down because two days later I was on every morning show in the United States, they threw me contracts,” the American told Sports Desk.
“I was still a teenager and everyone was trying to consume every part of my day, and I just wanted to be a kid and I just wanted to play tennis.”
Raducanu said last year that he would never cancel a workout or training session for any off-track commitments, but he may still find himself being asked if his time is squeezed too much.
Emma Raducanu joined celebrities at the Met Gala days after her victory at the US Open
Does it matter that you don’t have a coach?
Raducanu has not been able to settle for a coach for the past year.
Nigel Sears was replaced by Andrew Richardson after last year’s Wimbledon, but Richardson’s contract was not renewed despite Raducanu’s success in New York.
Torben Beltz was appointed in November, but they separated in April. LTA women’s head coach Iain Bates has been working with Raducanu ever since.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Austin suggested it might be good for Raducanu to keep up with a little more as he tries to navigate the sudden rise in his profile and ranking.
“There are a lot of things you have to fight for,” he said.
“You need a very good team around you that includes your family in making the right decisions. Is it really important? Will that help me? Is it possible that this will derail my career?
“I think it would be beneficial for Emma to find someone she feels very comfortable with and stay there for a while so you can make a list. What do we need to work on? Where are the shortcomings? Where are the strengths? I need to improve. both and only achieve that level of comfort personally “.
Will he ever win another Grand Slam?
Of course, no one can know the answer to that.
Former Serena Williams coach Patrick Mouratoglou is one of those who predict he can win many more important trophies, but former British number one John Lloyd could have said better during his BBC comment on Queen’s last week :
“I don’t think it’s a wonder of a Slam, and if it is, so what? That’s very special, too.”