Britain’s Emma Raducanu remains optimistic for the rest of the season despite a disappointing fourth-round exit from Wimbledon at the hands of New Zealand’s Lulu Sun. Raducanu lost 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 on Centre Court at the All-England Club earlier this week following dominant performances in the earlier rounds. Raducanu breezed past Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 7-6, 6-3 in the round of 128 before brushing aside Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-2 in the round of 64. The 21-year-old then made light work of Greece’s Maria Sakkari in a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the round of 32, prompting those who bet on Wimbledon to back Raducanu to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time in her blossoming career.
New Zealand’s Lulu Sun awaited Raducanu in the Round of 16. Until beating eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the first round, Sun had never won at a major and was the first player to represent New Zealand in the Round of 16 of Wimbledon for 65 years. Most tennis fans and pundits expected Raducanu to come out on top and do so with relative ease, but there are no easy matches in elite-level tennis.
Raducanu lost the first set 6-2 before leveling matters and regained some confidence with a 7-5 win in the second set. However, the 2021 US Open champion slipped on the baseline in the first game of the third set. She remained down on the grass before shaking her head and gingerly getting back on her feet. The game was paused at 15-30 on Raducanu’s serve while she received treatment on her back and leg. Raducanu later revealed she had been suffering from a stiff back for a couple of days, and the fall seemed to exacerbate the niggle. The British starlet bravely continued the match, but she was evidently uncomfortable. She immediately lost serve and could not recover the break. Ultimately, Sun won the third set 6-2-preventing Raducanu from reaching her first Wimbledon quarter-finals and continuing her incredible run in tennis’ most prestigious tournament.
As she always is, Raducanu was gracious in defeat. The world number 135, expected to return to the top 100 after Wimbledon, admitted Sun played better tennis and deserved her victory. Although Raducanu was deflated after her fourth-round exit, she remains optimistic for the rest of the 2024 season. She told Jonahan Jurejko of BBC Sport that she felt good. “I feel good about things going forward. I feel optimistic. As bitter as it is to take, I think this defeat happened for a reason. You don’t want things to happen too easily and too quickly. I had that before. I don’t necessarily want just a massive spike.”
While Raducanu is left to recover from her injuries and reflect on what could have been, Sun continued her fairytale journey. The 23-year-old is following a path that is not too dissimilar to Raducanu’s incredible U.S. Open grand slam victory in 2021. Sun qualified for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and debuted against Qinwen Zheng in the first round. She won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to record her first major victory and her first top-10 win. Sun lost the first set 4-6 against Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubsteva but rallied to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, setting up a round of 32 clash against China’s Lin Zhu. A 7-6, 7-6 victory over Zhu resulted in Sun taking on Raducanu in the round of 16.
While Sun and Barbora Krejcikova are the rank outsiders to go all the way and become the 2024 Wimbledon Women’s Single champion, Elena Rybakina is the clear favorite. Rybakina, who defected from Russia to Kazakhstan in 2018, is ranked fourth in the world and has tasted victory at Wimbledon, defeating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in 2022. Rybakina faces Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals on July 10. Svitolina is currently ranked 21. She is hunting her first Grand Slam victory to add to her 17 career titles. Svitolina has twice reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, losing in straight sets to eventual champion Simona Halep in 2019 and losing in straight sets to eventual winner Marketa Vondrousova last year. Some intriguing matches are coming up, and anyone who progresses to the semifinals and beyond will have done so on merit.
