On Tuesday, Emma Raducanu played her first Grand Slam match in a year. The 21-year-old Brit all but disappeared from view after ankle and wrist surgeries in 2023, but elusiveness has only increased her popularity. Her opening-round match in the Australian Open was played to a capacity crowd – no surprise, given thousands had already showed up to watch her practise.
Raducanu bested the American Shelby Rogers with her pace around the court, diamond-cut forehands and the occasional touch of pure imagination (a drop shot near the end of the second set was so well disguised it could have got a job at MI5). Having won the match, she went to work on the hearts of the fans, walking both sides of the court to ensure that no autograph-hunter left disappointed. “I missed that feeling of playing and interacting with the crowd,” she said afterwards, “so I wanted to spend some time with them. I heard some young kids calling my name and it’s hard to walk away.”
Content from our partners
