While Emma Raducanu will undoubtedly be in the spotlight during this year’s Wimbledon, former British tennis player Johanna Konta believes the 21-year-old will handle the pressure well and concentrate on achieving her objectives, which are likely to include maintaining her health and winning matches before the US swing.
Raducanu is fully prepared for this year’s grass season, having missed last year’s Wimbledon due to three surgeries. Unless an unforeseen circumstance arises, she will make her third main draw participation at the Championships last year.
All eyes were on Raducanu when she returned to Wimbledon in 2022, but she was defeated by Caroline Garcia in the second round, so she was unable to do much. However, Raducanu’s game has improved, she is now fully fit, and she appears to have grown more in the past several years compared to when she last competed at Wimbledon.
Konta expressed her thoughts about Raducanu recently and said: “I mean, I would imagine that for her, she would be looking to stay healthy physically and play a lot of matches. That will be a big goal of hers. I think for her, it will be more than just the grass; it will be to stay healthy into the US swing. She obviously will have incredible memories from the US hard court swing, so I think in general just for her to stay healthy for the rest of this year and get as many matches as possible.”
She added: “Obviously, Emma will have the spotlight on her because of her US Open achievement, which was incredible. To be honest, I don’t know what it’s like to be Emma Raducanu, nor do I know what it’s like to be Katie Boulter. But I think both women and all the British girls are quite well versed in this part of the year and think they enjoy it. They enjoy this part of the year for what it is. You get to be at home, play in front of a home crowd and get home comforts—there’s a lot to enjoy as a British player during the grass court summer.”
Konta claimed in the same interview that certain players are under pressure from the media and journalists. Konta did add, though, that since players don’t talk about it among themselves, she expects British players to ignore the controversy and concentrate only on their objectives.
Raducanu in Nottingham, ranking, and results in 2024
WLWWLLWWWW Ranked world no.209, Emma owns a compiled 11-7 record in 2024. Emma is playing at the moment in Nottingham where she beat the world no.274 Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-4, the world no.127 Daria Snigur 6-2 6-2 and the world no.249 Francesca Jones w/o.
Emma Raducanu will take on the world no.30 Katie Boulter in the semifinal on Sunday at 1:00 pm on Centre Court. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Boulter.
