“I am over the moon to be enjoying right here and simply lengthen my keep by another day,” Emma Raducanu mentioned after her 6-1, 6-2 win over Elise Mertens within the second spherical of Wimbledon on Wednesday.
For a 21-year-old, it was quite jarring for Raducanu to sound grateful simply to be on a tennis court docket. She seemed like a 36-year-old near the end line, not a participant with years left within the tank.
However those that’ve adopted Raducanu’s younger profession would establish along with her mindset. Precisely a yr in the past, she handled a myriad of ankle and wrist accidents that compelled her to skip the whole clay and grass court docket seasons. A yr earlier than, she was knocked out of the second spherical of Wimbledon whereas enjoying by way of a again harm. Later in 2022, she once more pulled out of a number of occasions with a wrist harm, falling from the highest 10 within the WTA rankings to exterior the highest 100 inside just a few months.
In 2021, the then-18-year-old Raducanu was hailed as the subsequent huge star in tennis when she miraculously won the U.S. Open title regardless of being ranked a hundred and fiftieth. She turned the first-ever qualifier to win a grand slam occasion, and the lowest-ranked participant to win a U.S. Open.
The world was her oyster.
Sadly, recurring accidents dealt her a tough hand, forcing her to fall out of the consciousness of tennis followers, all whereas she watched the likes of Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka ascend to the highest of the meals chain.
That is why Raducanu is so grateful to only be on the court docket.
To place issues in perspective, her win on Wednesday meant she reached the third spherical of a serious for the primary time since her 2021 U.S. Open win. That stat alone sums up how a lot accidents derailed her profession.
On the tender age of 21, Raducanu is appreciative sufficient for each alternative she’s afforded. And tennis followers will root for her with a ardour each time she’s wholesome sufficient to point out off her unbelievable abilities.
The subsequent alternative will come towards ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari in Friday’s third-round conflict.