At the age of 19, Emma Raducanu is already a national sporting treasure - and now she is officially a Centre Court favourite.
The US Open champion made her bow in the famous arena and defied injury worries and nerves to battle her way into the second round of the Wimbledon women’s singles draw with a straight-sets victory over Alison van Uytvanck.
Raducanu had the odd tough moment against the Belgian but showed the sort of fighting spirit that took her to that memorable Grand Slam triumph in the States last year. In a match lasting over two hours, the Kent teenager prevailed 6-4, 6-4, allaying fears that a side-strain problem might curtail her Wimbledon challenge. And the Centre Court crowd gave her a rousing ovation after a hard-fought victory.
Considering she has been billed as the face of Wimbledon 2022 - and considering this was, indeed, her first appearance on Centre Court - nerves were always going to be some sort of issue for Raducanu.
Throw in the fact injuries have meant she has played very little in recent months and this was a tough challenge against the world number 46.
In fact, it was probably just as well the arena was not even half full when the match began, most punters having a late lunch after Novak Djokovic had opened proceedings.
By the time Centre Court had been filled to capacity, Raducanu had found some sort of groove, despite having her serve broken, and was clearly inspired by the home support. And as Van Uytvanck became more and more frustrated, the Brit saved two break points in the tenth game, which she won to clinch the first set.
Raducanu failed to capitalise on a string of break points in the opening game of the second set and that gave Van Uytvanck renewed hope. But Raducanu came back from 3-1 down in the second set to power through to the next round.
And having made her debut in this famous bowl, you can bet she will be back here for as many matches as she gets through this year. The Centre Court has a new favourite, make no mistake.
