At times, it wasn’t pretty but Emma Raducanu booked her place in the second round of Wimbledon on Monday two years after her last match at the All England Club.
Raducanu had labelled herself a massive underdog when drawn against No22 see Ekaterina Alexandrova, 113 places higher than her in the world order.
But the Briton’s pre-match status changed on Monday morning when Alexandrova withdrew with illness and was replaced by the far less heralded Renata Zarazua.
The Mexican’s mercurial style rattled Raducanu for much of a tight two sets, knocking her off her rhythm and paving the way for a flurry of unforced errors. But in a see-saw contest, Raducanu was the deserving winner 7-6, 6-3.
She likened it to England’s scrappy last-16 win at the Euros against Slovakia the previous night, calling it “winning ugly”.
Since losing in the second round of Wimbledon back in 2022 – a year after her thrilling run to the fourth round on debut – Raducanu had not competed at her home grand slam.
And even though she played grasscourt tournaments in Nottingham and Eastbourne, the 21-year-old looked nervy and occasionally out of sorts on Centre Court despite opening the match with a powerful forehand winner.
She saved a break point on serve before pulling off the first break of the match for a 3-2 lead only for Zarazua to break back three games later.
Having previously produced 18 unforced errors in the set, Raducanu played a near-flawless tiebreak, winning all seven points and letting out a roar in celebration.
The second set was still tight for much of it despite the scoreline but again she came good at the pivotal points, breaking for a 4-2 lead which her rival never managed to close.
Raducanu knows she will have to up her level in the subsequent rounds - for example, she barely won a third of all her points at the net - and yet she will have been buoyed by grinding out this win.
After the win, the British player, who now plays Elise Mertens in the second round, said: “It was an incredibly difficult match. She kept getting the ball back. It took a lot of strength to get over the line.
“It took a little bit of adjusting and finding my feet. I really enjoyed playing back here. I’m incredibly happy to be back here.”
