Emma Raducanu will join David Beckham in paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth during the Platinum Party At The Palace concert on Saturday. And the US Open champion has been backed to be crowned the Queen of Hearts by the British public when she returns to Wimbledon next month
The world No.12 has recorded a special message to be shown during the jubilee celebration along with other national treasures like Beckham, Stephen Fry and Dame Julie Andrews.
Raducanu will then return to centre stage in the tennis round in the build-up to her home Grand Slam.
The Bromley teenager, who lost in the second round of the French Open, leapt to national fame in SW19 last year when she won three matches. This year as a Major champion, she will have to handle very different expectations.
Her fellow British No.1 Cam Norrie said: “She has had a lot of attention after the US Open – I don’t think it will be any easier around Wimbledon.
“Hopefully she will go and embrace it. She knows exactly how much attention she will get. It will be even more.
“She needs to keep her head down, keep enjoying the tennis, I am sure she is looking forward to the grass. I think it is one of her best surfaces as well. It will be a lot of fun.
“She is very mature, very well spoken and hopefully she can let her tennis do the talking at Wimbledon. She played great there last year.
“Hopefully she can use the home crowd to her advantage – people will be loving her.”
Norrie lost in the third round to Karen Khachanov to miss a glamorous tie with No.6 seed Carlos Alcaraz tonight. (sun)
The Spanish teenager remains on course to meet the winner of Tuesday’s Novak Djokovic-Rafa Nadal quarter-final in the last four.
Alcaraz, who beat both superstars on his way to winning the Madrid Masters, said: “If I am winning, I just play against one of them. I think I’m ready. It’s different to play against them here. In the Masters 1000 or another tournament, it’s best-of-three rather than in a Grand Slam, but I would say I’m ready.”
On the other side of the draw, world No.2 Daniil Medvedev swept past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 6-4 6-2.
In the women’s event, world No.1 Iga Swiatek is the only top ten seed left in the draw after defeats for Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa. The Pole extended her winning streak to 31 matches by beating Danka Kovinic 6-3 7-5.
