Emma Raducanu reveals ‘deep conversation’ that made her realise ‘I need to do better’ as Wimbledon bid moves into round two

Emma Raducanu has revealed the “deep conversation” after which she admitted to realising “certain things I need to do better.”

The Briton started her Wimbledon campaign in style, beating teenage wildcard Mimi Xu on No. 1 Court to set up a tantalising second-round encounter with former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Raducanu ran out a 6-3 6-3 winner in front of a partisan crowd, a scoreline that belied the stern resistance Xu put up on her Wimbledon debut.

Raducanu has put together a solid grass-court season, getting two wins at Queen’s Club before falling to Qinwen Zheng, and a further win at Eastbourne to ensure she made it to SW19 with some form behind her.

That is despite the former US Open champion having to manage a niggling back problem – the latest in a long list of injuries that have derailed her career since her famous triumph in New York.

Raducanu has gone through many coaches since becoming a Grand Slam champion, but she has high praise for Petchey – who has been trying to take the pressure off the British No. 1.

“I’d give him 11 out of 10,” Raducanu said in her post-match press conference at the All England Club.

“He’s been everything the last few months for me. I’ve really enjoyed being around him. He’s helped me so much on all fronts, tennis, off court.

“I think the most memorable moment… We’ve had quite a few. There was one hike we did in L.A. We walked for two and a half hours. We spoke.

“It was one of those really, I guess, deep conversations where I was like, okay, certain things I need to do better. It was just one that I could take away and really reflect on.”

Raducanu’s coaching list is lengthy, with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, and Nick Cavaday all having spells in charge of the youngster, albeit many on a trial basis.

Cavaday stepped back from the role for health reasons earlier this season, but is back working with Raducanu alongside Petchey for this short grass court season.

Raducanu made the fourth round of Wimbledon last season, beating Maria Sakkari before losing to Lulu Sun.

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain interacts with coach Mark Petchey during a training session prior to The Championships Wimbledon

Image credit: Getty Images

As such, she has plenty of ranking points to defend this week – and was not helped by her draw pitching her against 2023 champion Vondrousova in the second round.

The two have met once before on grass, Raducanu winning in straight sets on her Wimbledon debut as she made her then famous run to the fourth round before going on to lift the US Open title later that summer.

But Vondrousova has won their most recent two encounters, including in Abu Dhabi earlier this season.

“She is 30-something now, so she’s very high in the rankings,” Vondrousova said about Raducanu in her press conference. “I feel like she’s coming back where she belongs.

“Yeah, I feel like she’s a great player. She has both strong forehand, backhand.

“She’s really very, very great player. Yeah, it was a tough match there. I expect tough one on Wednesday. We’ll see.”

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