THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 25, 2022

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Emma, how are you feeling to be back at Wimbledon?

EMMA RADUCANU: I'm very much looking forward to being back here at Wimbledon. I think that it's the most special place to be playing tennis. Just a very inspiring and motivating place to be.

Definitely looking forward to stepping out on court on Monday. Yeah, ready to go.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously you suffered the injury in Nottingham. How is it? Can you say why you didn't play in the Court 1 practice you were scheduled to yesterday.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I've definitely been managing it since Nottingham. I took two weeks off.

But, yeah, I've been preparing this week. Yesterday we just had to react to the situation. I already practiced in the morning. So, yeah, we all collectively thought it was the best decision to pass on the afternoon session as well, and, yeah, stay fresh and ready to go.

Q. Have you been at any point this week thinking that you wouldn't play? Has there been a particular point where you decided, Yes, I'm definitely going to play?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think that this week was a good buildup. Definitely, you know, there were moments earlier on in the week we weren't really sure. We were sort of going to see how the week goes. But it went pretty well.

And, yeah, now it's full steam ahead. Everyone's really looking forward to it. Yeah, we're all ready.

Q. Do you feel any pain when you're serving? As a tennis player, you're putting it under a lot of strain. Are you pain-free right now?

EMMA RADUCANU: Right now I'm fit. I'm ready to go. I'm looking forward to it. That's it.

Q. You spoke in your introductory remarks about how special Wimbledon is. When you walk onto the grounds, what are the little details that strike you most about the place?

EMMA RADUCANU: The details? It's just the attention to detail in every single aspect that this place has. I mean, from the flowers to everything. They have, like, subtle hints of tennis racquets and tennis balls in the carpets. The level they go to to make sure this place is pretty much perfect. It's pretty outstanding.

That attention to detail is pretty inspiring in itself, if you can take that, how Wimbledon thinks about their grounds, and apply it to yourself, have those sort of standards of yourself, I think that's inspiration in itself.

Q. Being on the practice courts and seeing all of these amazing players around you - I think I saw you watching a bit of Nadal this morning - is it surreal to you to be in amongst all these amazing players that I can imagine you must have looked up to?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, of course it is. I mean, I'm 19. Like just to be watching Rafa and Novak at such close range, to be able to sort of take part and try to learn from them, walk amongst these great players, it's still special. I don't think it really ever changes when you're watching those greats. It's amazing to have them around leading such a great example.

I think that, yeah, it's only my second Wimbledon, and I'm really new to this still. It's a really special feeling.

Q. I've just seen the order of play for Monday. It's Novak, then you, then Andy. How do you feel about that? There was maybe a suggestion you might try to play mixed with Andy. Maybe with your respective buildups being not as great as you both wanted, is that off the table now?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I don't think we're playing. But I think that's a pretty cool lineup. Just to be included amongst those names is special in itself. I never would have thought that.

Yeah, I'm obviously looking forward to getting out there.

Q. Obviously it's 12 months since the big breakthrough here last year. What's different so far about your experiences here kind of behind the scenes? I guess you're in a different locker room, lots of other details like that. Are there any aspects of last year's experience that you miss maybe?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think it's amazing. This year I get such a special feeling walking around the grounds. I definitely feel that people are behind me. Even from some of the people working on the tournament, they're like, You got this. Just cheering me on. That's pretty special in itself.

One of the perks is I don't need to cross the road at Aorangi to practice now on like Court 28 or something. That's definitely a perk.

I feel like last year I came straight out of my exams, I was fresh, ready to play. I feel the same excitement this year, to be honest, because I think Wimbledon just brings that out of me especially.

But I'm definitely looking forward to it. Just going to play like a kid who just loves playing tennis. It's always my dream to step out on Centre Court. It's something I've always wanted to do and started playing tennis for.

Q. Can I have your thoughts on your first-round opponent Alison Van Uytvanck.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think I played her in August last year. It's nine months ago. I think she was definitely the top seed at the time. I kind of just got into the tournament.

I definitely feel like game-wise I back myself pretty much against anyone. I feel if I really put my mind to it and commit, then I can be pretty good (smiling). So I'm definitely looking forward to the match.

But she's a real tricky opponent, especially on grass courts. I think this surface definitely suits her well. She plays a pretty quick, high-tempo game. It's definitely going to take some getting used to, being prepared for that straightaway.

It's definitely going to be a tough matchup, but every match is at this level. I'm still ready to go.

Q. You just spoke about seeing some of the big names of tennis on the practice courts, what it still means to you. Have you noticed since the U.S. that perhaps they treat you differently when you're around them, you're sort of accepted as one of them now?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I would say there have been, like, some changes just walking around for sure. But actually last year Novak was, like, saying hi to me. I thought that was a really cool thing, like No. 1 in the world, he said hi to me, like wow. That was before any of the result really. I thought that was pretty cool of him to do.

Yeah, this year definitely just getting good practices. Playing with some of the top in the world, you get to test yourself at each practice. Yeah, it's a really cool thing to keep improving.

Q. There are some figures are coming out which show a surge of interest in Londoners as a result of you winning the US Open. How do you feel about inspiring a new generation of youngsters to pick up their racquets?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, it is a really nice feeling just to think that some youngsters might pick up tennis because they've watched me or what I did. That's always something that I wanted to do, is to inspire the younger generation.

To see those players come through, especially maybe some of the younger girls who might feel like they're really shy or they don't want to play with the boys, I can totally relate to that because I've been there. I went through that myself. I was really shy. I was clinging onto the fence. I didn't want to go on the court.

But, yeah, it just opens up so many opportunities. I definitely grew a lot as a person just playing tennis, more confidence. Yeah, sport definitely just opens up a lot of opportunities for young people.

Q. I saw a couple times at Aorangi you were playing Spikeball. I'm curious how much of that you've done, how you got introduced to it.

EMMA RADUCANU: The first time I played was actually Fed Cup this year. I didn't know what Spikeball was before that. It's just a great way to sort of get warm and raise your pulse, also the reactive element of it. It's competitive. I think that it's just really fun. Maybe sometimes warmups can be a bit mundane, so it definitely livens them up a bit.

Q. I was speaking to Tim Henman. He said he chatted to you a little bit about the Wimbledon experience as a leading British player. How much have you prepared for the attention that's going to be on you, how are you going to handle that? Also have you ever hit or played on Centre Court?

EMMA RADUCANU: No, I've never hit on Centre Court.

To be honest, I take whatever feeling as positive. I think people are going to be behind me and cheering me on. There's nothing sort of negative about that. They want you to do well.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to going out there and experiencing that and feeling that.

Q. After winning the US Open, do you feel now more confident about your style of play or you feel a little bit more pressure?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think that I as a tennis player have actually grown and developed and have skills that I maybe didn't have last year. But everyone knows me now. Everyone knows the sort of things I was doing last year. Everyone wants to beat me. I sort of take that as a compliment if players are raising their game against me because they want to do well against you.

I think that that is definitely going to help me as a tennis player longer term because if players are raising their game against me, I have to raise my level, too. So I think there's nothing negative about that.

Over time I will be a better tennis player. I'm 19 years old. If I hadn't won the US Open, I think the past year or the way that I've been sort of heading, it wouldn't be necessarily a bad thing, or result-wise, you know?

I think I still have hopefully 15 years or something more in my career to go. I'm just at the beginning of it. So, yeah, I'm looking forward for this long-term journey.

Q. You were speaking about this last year, all the experiences you've been through. What do you feel you've learned the most about yourself in that year?

EMMA RADUCANU: I'd say I've learnt that I'm resilient. I always knew that, that I had that, but just to keep getting back up. I said like fall down 10 times, get up 11. What are you going to do about it? All you can do is keep moving forward. There's no point looking back, getting down, because you just keep getting back up.

I'm not sort of playing for anyone; just to go out there and play for myself. Yeah, the tests that I've kind of gone through I think is going to help me as a person and a player long-term.

Yeah, to experience it so young, I feel like I'm lucky that I get this lesson at such an early age, so I have a lot of time to get better at it and everything.