New darling of British tennis, Emma Raducanu, keeps the dream alive

Bromley’s Emma Raducanu called her win on No.1 Court against Roman’s Sorana Cirstea “the cherry at the top” as the new darling of British tennis reached the fourth round.

The 18-year-old Londoner’s dream run at the All England Club continued after she defeated the world number 45 6-3, 7-5, including a run of eight straight games.

The world number 338, who has only just finished her A-levels, was playing on a show court for the very first time, and couldn’t contain her excitement after the match.

She said: “My emotions were I just couldn’t put them into words, really. I was so overwhelmed. The last point, I kind of just dropped my racket and fell to the floor. It was just all so instinctive and in the moment. I had no idea what just happened.

“Right now I’m on such a buzz and such a high. Yeah, I have my team who are with me in the bubble. We’re all just having a great time. We’re sticking to the same routines. Yeah, having a really good time here.

“I knew Sorana was a very tough opponent. Playing on No.1 Court at Wimbledon is what you dream of. Not many people get the opportunity to. I was like, ‘wow, this is such an experience, such an opportunity’.

“I just thought, ‘well, I’m just going to go out there and have fun’. I really think I did. Some of the points, I’d never played such good tennis.

“Yesterday I came out here (to No.1 Court) and I sat courtside for about five minutes. They let me to get a feel for the court, which I think was very valuable because when I went out there today, I sort of knew what to expect a little bit.

“And once again, I thought ‘if I’m not going to enjoy Court 1 at Wimbledon, home crowd, like what are you going to enjoy? This is the cherry at the top of tennis.

“I was just so excited. When I heard the crowd just roar for the first time, I was like, ‘wow, they’re so behind me’. I was just feeding off of their energy. I’m just so excited I get to play in front of them again.”

Picture top: Emma Raducanu on No.1 Court today (Picture: PA)