Yesterday’s incredible Bromley schoolgirl affection for all the big fat corporate deals, Vogue fashion shoots, movie premiere, MBE, as Britain’s number one tasted her first win at Wimbledon’s Center Court There was still a muffled touch.
Emma Raducanu was excited to jump up and down, waving the referee’s hand. Then she returned to court and completely skipped her 360 degree joy jig.
This is a reaction you can expect from a person who has just won a tournament, not from a Grand Slam champion after advancing to the second round.
The 19-year-old celebrated her return to Wimbledon in style and jumped with joy when she won the straight set match on her center court debut.
Raducanu was in the support of a rogue wave by the end of the match against Belgium.
Emma’s mother, Lenny, was watching her daughter’s victory from the court. Many celebrities also enjoyed the game.
Victory: Andy Murray deflate after winning his first round match on the center court shortly after Emma Raducanu last night
Her feelings were replicated around the All England Club in a crowd celebrating the first proper day of the Full Wimbledon tournament for the first time in three years.
With the early rains and trains running, Britain was finally able to secure Wimbledon’s hopes to someone other than Sir Andy Murray.
However, the fact that this was also Emma’s first appearance on the Center Court reminded us of the extraordinary twist of the very short Raducanu story so far.
At this time of last year, she was an outsider waiting for A-level results. Three months later, she raised a trophy at the National Open and was blessed by her queen.
However, Covid and a series of low-level injuries have been sought to ruin the fairy tale. This year began with a series of defeats, followed by her withdrawal from the usual Wimbledon warm-up in Eastbourne.
So much was on the first round clash with Alison van Witvank of Belgium yesterday – with common agreement, a very tough opponent.
And really Emma didn’t make it easy. She serves her for the first time, fluffing the serve after the serve and the advantage points after the advantage points.
First, I talked to the crowd in front of a huge screen about what they called Henman Hill. A staggering number of people abandoned the plum seats on Court 1 and came out, chasing Emma on television from the grass slopes.
Brighton accountant Lynn Rushbrook and her mother were among them. “I couldn’t see her match,” Lin said. She said, “She is worried that she will put too much pressure on herself.”
When I sat down on the center court, I noticed that the crowd was noisy and Emma was noisy. Van Uytvanck was an expressionless study of patience, but teens yelled like shot put by the end of the first set.
The second started with another attrition warfare, as Emma used Van Witvank’s services to make seven painful deuces and still let go of the game. She then forced the Belgians to take a 3-1 lead before the comeback finally began.
At that point, the chorus of “Come on, Emma!” Construction has started. Just before 6 pm, the first “Emma, would you like to get married?” It came from a refreshing man somewhere behind me. Uninteresting. Indeed, it felt pretty creepy.
After the match, Raducanu’s euphoria was deep and sincere-her meditation and personal mantra seemed to do the trick.
All Stars Come to Play: Amanda Holden and her daughter Triny Woodall were adorned with Wimbledon colors during their visit to the court yesterday.
She appeared to be meditating while her opponent was munching on bananas and stirring water when the player took a final drink break with a score of 5-4 in favor of Emma. ..
Teens also seemed to mutter some kind of mantra. Whatever it was, it did the trick after a few minutes.
A very reassuring center court stood up at his feet.
Emma’s euphoria was deep and sincere. As she explained later, she couldn’t take the pure thrill of her first match at this place, even in the US Open title.
“How many times can you go out to the center court?” She asked. In her case, I think the answer would be “countless times.” But for now, she enjoyed the rites of passage in the life of a young tennis professional.
Add two small but easy-to-understand observations to this. This will not be seen on TV.
First, when she was heading for the exit, she lost her way to the crowd. She posed for all her selfies and faithfully signed all the last balls, programs and baseball caps. Then she went looking for someone who was a little sweet and slowed down the pen in the first place.
Similarly, before leaving the courtroom, she cleaned up empty bottles and put half-eaten bananas in a racket bag. Emma left no trace while her opponent left the right old mess in her chair.
I must have been the governor of her proud school.
As McEnroe says, Becker’s fan club is at stake: we love you
By Inderdeep Bains and Israan Khan for the Daily Mail
Boris Becker may be in jail, but there was support from his BBC colleague on Wimbledon, which aired yesterday.
While commenting on the Center Court proceedings, his friend John McEnroe said:
While commenting on the Center Court proceedings, Becker’s friend John McEnroe said:
His feelings were backed up by veteran presenter Sue Barker. Becker, 54, was a regular at SW19 from winning Wimbledon in 1985 until becoming a commentator.
His girlfriend Lillian de Carvalho Monterio and his son Noah, 28, were invited to his box when defending champion Novak Djokovic won his first match.
Becker was Djokovic’s coach for three years. The disgraceful star is watching tennis from Huntercom Prison in Oxfordshire after being convicted of hiding £ 2.5 million worth of assets to avoid his debt.