It was a long journey to Wimbledon for Emma Ladukane. After making history at the 2021 US Open, she continues to struggle to repeat that success.
But Wimbledon was the comfort of the house of welcoming for her. She made a breakthrough at the All-England Club, remembering four months before the US’s open success, and was comparable to that run at last year’s championship.
Will she turn more this time?
This is everything you need to know.
Raducanu’s first match
Radkanu will face the 17-year-old British wild card Minge XU in the opening match at the All England Club.
Originally from Swansea, Wales, Xu ranks in the world No. 302. She will be Radukanu’s first hurdle if she runs at this year’s championship.
As she is on the road to play first seeded Arena Sabalenka in the third round, she will face a difficult job if she repeats her fourth run since last summer.
How to see
The match will be broadcast live on the BBC. ESPN provides live blogs as well as news and feature coverage.
Radcanu form entering Wimbledon
It was usually a roller coaster year for Radukanu. She had to overcome challenges on and off the court – she was followed by male stalkers at WTA events in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha earlier this year.
Her deepest run of the year was at the Miami Open, where she made the quarterfinals before being defeated in three sets by Jessica Pegra.
She migrated twice with grass before Wimbledon. She played the quarterfinals in the singles Queens, working with her fellow countryman Katie Boulter to doubles “Bretane” and suffered 16 losses to 19-year-old Maya Joint at the Eastbourne Open.
But without coaching changes, it’s not Radkanu season. She split from manager Vladimir Pratenik after only one game in March. However, she has since enjoyed setting up part-time coaching with Mark Petchy.
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