Wimbledon: Britain's Emma Raducanu seals impressive opening win over Renata Zarazua to begin campaign at SW19

Despite her encouraging form in the grass-court lead-up tournaments, it remained a bit of an unknown how Emma Raducanu would fare in her opening match at Wimbledon. The Brit discovered that she would be facing a different opponent in Renata Zarazua after her original opponent, Ekaterina Alexandrova, pulled out earlier in the day, and she adapted superbly to clinch the win.

Emma Raducanu clinched a straight-sets victory in the first round of Wimbledon on Monday as the Brit defeated Mexico's Renata Zarazua on Centre Court.

Raducanu needed just under two hours to seal a fairly comfortable win in two sets, 7-6(0) 6-3, to secure her place in the second round at the All England Club.

The 21-year-old missed her chance to play in front of her home fans at the All England Club last year after surgeries on both her wrists and an ankle, while she was also absent on the red clay at the French Open.

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Raducanu's adaptability was tested when 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova pulled out of the tournament with an illness hours before the match, leading to lucky loser Zarazua being announced as her opponent at short notice.

Showing the form she demonstrated as she progressed through to the semi-finals at WTA Nottingham and the quarter-finals at WTA Eastbourne, Raducanu immediately looked comfortable back in SW19 as she stormed through the opening set tie-break.

In a frenetic start to the match, both players held serve to settle themselves down, before the Brit produced a break of serve in the fifth game that had the fans inside Centre Court on their feet.

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain plays a forehand against Renata Zarazua of Mexico in the Ladies' Singles first round match on day one of The Championships Wimbledon 2024

Image credit: Getty Images

However, Raducanu was unable to fully consolidate her advantage as Zarazua roared back in style, impressively unfazed by the occasion with the crowd not on her side.

Having been a tight contest up until the tie-break, Raducanu suddenly upped her intensity to devastating effect as she took it 7-0 in emphatic fashion.

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Raducanu continued to be fired up as she tried to feed off the crowd in the second set, and she sealed the important break of serve midway through to further establish her control of the match.

Zarazua was unable to respond, and the Brit was able to show superb composure to close out the contest in one hour and 57 minutes.

Speaking in her on-court interview, Raducanu said: “It was an incredibly difficult match. I’ve barely played a defender who has landed the ball on the baseline, and it took a lot of strength to get the ball back.

“It’s not easy for her - you’re not playing in the morning, and suddenly you’re on Centre Court. Thanks to everyone for getting me over the line.

"I found out at 10:30am today and for the last three days, we were playing with similar opponents. It took a little bit of adjusting to find my feet.

“Thank you for the support in crucial moments. I really enjoyed being back here.”

The British wild card will next take on Elise Mertens of Belgium in the second round as she looks to further extend her run.

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