LONDON: When Emma Raducanu hurtled across the baseline to whip an eye-popping passing shot winner at Wimbledon on Wednesday, it signalled that she was once again capable of delivering the kind of potent shots that carried her to the 2021 U.S. Open title.
That sizzler, one of 18 winners Raducanu conjured up during her second-round 6-3 6-3 destruction of 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, not only earned the British hope her first break of the match but it also had a hollering Centre Court crowd leaping to their feet.
As fans and pundits hailed her electrifying performance, Raducanu admitted: “That was one of the best matches I’ve played in a long time.
“There’s no better feeling than winning here at Wimbledon, winning on Centre Court. It honestly makes everything worth it. You forget about everything, all the up and downs, mainly the downs, when you’re out there and you win. I just want to savour that one and enjoy it (because) it was really special.”
Billed as a battle between two one-hit wonders, Raducanu and her Czech rival both had a point to prove when they walked on to Centre Court for the match.
Their career paths have followed a similar roller-coaster of a trajectory – while Raducanu became the first qualifier in the professional era to win a Grand Slam singles title when she triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2021, Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in 2023.
Ranking freefall
Twelve months after experiencing the buzz of their incredible victories, both suffered humbling first-round exits when they turned up to defend their Grand Slam titles, with injuries contributing to their downfall.
Cue a rankings freefall, with both plummeting outside the top 150 and, until 10 days ago, neither had won a title since their Grand Slam triumphs.
While both were unseeded, Vondrousova would have fancied her chances of knocking out Britain’s big hope.
After all, the 26-year-old had arrived at the All England Club fresh from winning the grasscourt title in Berlin, with victories over Australian Open champion Madison Keys and world number one Aryna Sabalenka en route.
However, it was 22-year-old Raducanu whose game sparkled on Centre Court as she produced the kind of carefree, yet formidable, shots that helped her to triumph at Flushing Meadows almost four years ago.
“Today I played really, really well,” summed up world number 40 Raducanu, whose reward for reaching the third round is a showdown with Sabalenka.
“Playing Marketa, I knew it was going to be very challenging. She’s won Wimbledon. She’s in amazing form right now having won Berlin. I’m just very proud of how I went out there and competed and kept committing and came through that one.”
Her commitment to chase after everything, even when she seemed out of the running to win the point, paid off time and time again.
The incredible backhand passing shot winner that she curled back into the court, despite almost running into the crowd, gave her the break for a 4-2 lead in the first set.
Although a sloppy service game gave 73rd-ranked Vondrousova the break back in the next game, the British number one wasted little time in regaining the advantage for a 5-3 lead after a forehand error from the Czech.
Moments later thundering roars from the Centre Court crowd could be heard around the All England Club, and beyond, as Vondrousova surrendered the set with yet another miscued forehand.
Clearly unsettled, the errors started piling up for Vondrousova, who had previously admitted that she did not envy the “crazy pressure” Raducanu had to deal with day-in and day-out after becoming the first British woman to win a major in 44 years.
Yet another forehand slapped long by Vondrousova handed Raducanu a break for 2-1 and from then on there was no stopping the Briton.
She sealed a place in the third round after her opponent swiped a backhand wide.
“She was playing amazing tennis. She was crushing me in the rallies, so there wasn’t much I could do,” said Vondrousova.
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