Emma Raducanu all smiles during training in boost for Wimbledon hopes

Raducanu is expected to complete her statutory media duties later on Sunday, but 90 minutes after coming off court, she had still not yet announced when she planned to speak to the press.

During an hour-long session at Aorangi Park – the training area at the top of the Wimbledon site – Raducanu hit some serves, some returns and some “plus-one” shots, tennis jargon for the third shot of a rally.

Raducanu was striking the ball fluently, but over the course of the hour she did not do a great deal of moving from side to side. She was still wearing strapping on the lower part of her right shin.

Her mood looked upbeat as she was pictured courtside smiling alongside Jill Smoller, Serena Williams’ sports agent and confidante.

But Antonia Ruzic, the Croatian world No 60 whom she is due to face in the first round, is the sort of player who will put a lot of balls in court and make her cover a lot of ground.

If Raducanu does choose to compete on Monday – and this seemed a little better than a 50-50 chance at the time of writing – she will do so with suboptimal preparation, especially against such a rugged opponent.

More to follow...

Click here to read article