By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, June 24, 2024
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
The tennis court can be an emotionally combustible place.
Emma Raducanu says British grass-court season has reignited her emotional fire for the sport.
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Empowered by her semifinal run in Nottingham—her first final four appearance of the season—Raducanu will play Sloane Stephens tomorrow in an Eastbourne opener of former US Open champions.
After missing Roland Garros, the 21-year-old Briton says she’s fired up to be back on grass.
“I’m just really into it at the moment. I just love the sport, I love tennis,” Raducanu told the media in Eastbourne. “It’s taken over me and I’ve really rekindled a light in the fire inside of me.
“I’m really grateful to have this feeling again because it’s something that I feel I’ve been missing in a way for the last few years and I haven’t felt this good about my tennis—just excited about it and passionate—for a long, long time.”
The 2021 US Open champion joins Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki as one of four former Grand Slam champions to receive main-draw Wimbledon wild cards.
It will be Raducanu’s first appearance at The Championships since 2022.
In her 2021 Wimbledon debut, a then 338th-ranked Raducanu upset Marketa Vondrousova and Sorana Cirstea to reach the round of 16 where she retired to Ajla Tomljanovic.
Returning to grass has helped Raducanu reclaim her confidence and positivity ahead of The Championships, she said.
“Now it’s really comforting for me because I’m way less focused on the result because I know with the way I’m training, the way I’m competing and fighting on the court, good things are 100 percent going to happen,” Raducanu said. “I have full faith and belief in that now and I can say it and mean it at the same time, rather than just saying it.”
