-Ikenna Okafor
Emma Raducanu will take her first ever steps onto Centre Court today, pledging that it will not all end like her Wimbledon of twelve months ago.
The US Open champion will seek to feed off the energy of the crowd when she meets Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck, a year on from having to retire from her fourth round match on Number One.
Raducanu’s rise is such that she has never played on the main arena, and she has not been among the select few able to enjoy a brief practice on the turf in the past few days.
‘Everyone out there on court wants me to do well and are behind me and they are going to be cheering,’ said the 19 year-old from Kent.
‘So there’s nothing negative or to feel overwhelmed about because they’re just going to be rooting for me.
‘I watched the women’s final last year on Centre actually. It does bear some similarities to No. 1 Court but it has got a special feeling about it just because of all the history and prestige.’
Andy Murray will follow Raducanu onto the Centre, with both of them having recovered from injuries that affected their build-up.
Murray recently revealed how he was snubbed by coaches who felt they could not improve his fortunes – but not by Ivan Lendl.
On Lendl, he said: ‘We’ve had a lot of success in the past. He still believes in me. There are not loads of coaches, people out there, that have done over this last period and he has.
Raducanu targets good start