It’s been a long journey to this Wimbledon for Emma Raducanu. After making history at the 2021 US Open, she has continued to struggle to repeat that success.
However, Wimbledon has been a welcoming home comfort for her. She made her breakthrough at the All England Club by memorably reaching the fourth round months before her US Open success, and she equalled that run at last year’s championships.
Will she go further this time round?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Raducanu’s 1st-round match
Raducanu will face 17-year-old British wild card Mingge Xu in her opening match at the All England Club.
Xu, from Swansea, Wales, is ranked world No. 302. She will be Raducanu’s first hurdle if she is going to make a run at this year’s championships.
She will face a difficult task if she is to repeat her fourth-round run from last summer as she is on a path to play first-seed Aryna Sabalenka in the third round.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast live on BBC. ESPN will also be providing a live blog, as well as news and feature coverage.
Raducanu’s form entering Wimbledon
It’s been a typically roller coaster year for Raducanu. She has had to overcome challenges on and off the court — she was followed by a male stalker at WTA events in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha earlier this year.
Her deepest run this year came at the Miami Open where she made the quarterfinals before being defeated over three sets by Jessica Pegula.
She has played twice on grass before Wimbledon. She made the quarterfinals at Queen’s in the single’s while teaming up with compatriot Katie Boulter for “Boultercanu” in the doubles, following that up with a round-of-16 defeat to 19-year-old Maya Joint at the Eastbourne Open.
It wouldn’t be a Raducanu season without a coaching change, though. She split with coach Vladimir Platenik after just one match in March. However, she has since enjoyed a part-time coaching set up with Mark Petchey
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