Emma Raducanu mentions ‘ugly’ England performance at Euro 2024 after winning at Wimbledon | Tennis | Sport

Emma Raducanu was forced to dig deep to defeat lucky loser Renata Zarazua in the first round at Wimbledon. The Brit opened her account at the All England Club with a 7-6(0), 6-3 victory.

But it was far from a pretty performance and Raducanu compared her display to England at Euro 2024.

The Three Liones needed a 95th-minute goal from Jude Bellingham to take their last-16 tie to extra-time.

Harry Kane then nodded in a winner to scrape into the quarter-finals on Sunday night.

“I’m incredibly happy to be back here. I was nervous, I’m sure everyone could see that in my tennis,” Raducanu said.

“Honestly watching the football last night it was winning ugly – it all counts.

“I think it’s such a buzz in the summer time. I think the tennis, football, F1, it uplifts everyone, myself included and my motivation is to keep coming back here, keep playing and feel that buzz.”

Raducanu was due to face No.22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova but the Russian withdrew from the tournament hours before she was due on Centre Court.

“Well I mean it was an incredibly difficult match. I think I’ve barely ever played a defended who’s literally landed the ball on the baseline or just kept getting the ball back. It took a lot of strength to get over the line,” Raducanu explained.

“I found out at like 10.30 today and for the last three days we’ve been playing, setting up practices with similar opponents and all of a sudden it’s a change of player. It took a little bit of adjusting and finding my feet but I just want to say thank you to everyone for the support in crucial moments.”

Former British No.1 Laura Robson believes her friend Raducanu will breathe a “sigh of relief” after booking her place in round two.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live: “The whole situation was difficult, suddenly you’re the favourite to win when before you were the underdog. She just had to deal with a lot over the last few hours.

“Zarazua didn’t make it easy at all, an hour and 56 minutes on the clock and really not much in it.

“For Raducanu to get the win in straight sets, get her tournament under way, that was a fantastic way to close it out as well.”