Homecomings are rarely supposed to amount to more than a procession but, nine months after her dizzying US Open triumph, Emma Raducanu required all her skill and tenacity to survive the gauntlet of her Wimbledon return. Be it the weight of expectation, angst over her fitness or simply the quality of her dangerous opponent, Alison van Uytvanch, it was a sense of jeopardy rather than celebration that underlined the 19-year-old’s debut on Centre Court.
A straight sets victory didn’t tell the full story of an exhausting 101-minute examination that featured no shortage of drama as breaks were exchanged and momentum shifted as quickly as cheers could turn into gasps. Raducanu’s opening service game was a titanic saga in itself, but it was the Briton who eventually drew first blood and, although she immediately surrendered that advantage, Raducanu rallied again to clinch a rollercoaster first set.
