What we learned about Raducanu’s Wimbledon hopes after first match in two months

NOTTINGHAM — Emma Raducanu secured her first win for nearly two months as she blew away Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-4 in the first round at the Nottingham Open.

Raducanu, 21, had not played on grass for nearly two years, missing last year’s home season due to triple surgery, but skipped the 2024 French Open in order to prioritise fitness for this and the American hard-court swings.

She looked to have wasted no time in dispatching world No 274 Shibahara when she served for the match with less than an hour on the clock.

However, the Japanese 26-year-old, more of a doubles than singles player, broke back twice, only to drop her serve for a sixth time in the match and hand Raducanu victory after 70 minutes.

But what did we learn about the progress Raducanu has made in her seven-week hiatus from competitive tennis?

No HawkEye here

Nottingham is a WTA 250 event, where Centre Court only seats 2,531 people and there is no electronic line-calling or HawkEye challenge system.

Maybe Raducanu forgot that when Shibahara’s first serve of the match skidded through, glaring over at her coach without moving from her follow-through. She was frustrated too a game later when her own serve was called out, twice. On at least the first two occasions, the line judge appears to have been correct, but Raducanu was less than impressed.

“I feel like I was playing two-vs-one on court, it was insane,” Raducanu said.

“I would have used probably at least four challenges! A lot of the time they go both ways, today I felt they were all against me but it just makes me feel better that I managed to beat her and the umpire as well.

“It is difficult when there is no challenge but it is something everyone has to deal with. It’s something I had to deal with and overcome.

“I am very pleased with the attitude I came out with from the get-go and also having to deal with the adversity.”

Raducanu is not the first to complain about the line judges in Nottingham this week: Harriet Dart tried to bet an umpire £50,000 that she had got a call wrong. The wager was not accepted.

Grass is always greener

Raducanu may not have played on this surface for two years since losing to Caroline Garcia at Wimbledon 2022 but it is still one that should suit her game in the long run.

Her athleticism on the grass and aggression on return, a necessity against Shibahara’s serve-and-volley game, have not deserted her in the two years since she last played Wimbledon. On second serve, Shibahara won only four points all match.

And Raducanu’s touch is not bad either, getting to a drop volley and dabbing a lob over her opponent’s head well inside the baseline to secure the first break of serve.

A new-look serve?

Raducanu has had seven weeks away from the cameras and the match court to work, she says, mostly on physicality and resilience that she will need in a packed end to the season.

Read Next

However, time spent on court with Nick Cavaday also appears to have been spent remodelling her service action, which seemed to feature a subtly different swing before contact, although Raducanu would not be drawn on the specificities – admitting only that she was trying to make it “more efficient”.

Whatever the tweak, it is not the finished product – she still only landed 59 per cent of her first serves in the box, one of her lowest marks of the season.

“I’ve definitely been working on it. And I think it’s just such an important shot in the game,” Raducanu said.

“On the grass it’s so important. You feel like you need to hold serve every time. Today was a great example; even if you’re like 5-1 up, the sets can easily swing very quickly if you don’t make so first serve. So it’s very important, it’s just highlighted on this surface.”

Raducanu draw outweighed by the British ‘summer’

Tickets were hard to come by but empty seats were not as a chilly, blustery afternoon in Nottingham – notoriously one of the windiest venues in British tennis – made it hard for some spectators to stick out the day.

Most made it back in for the second set although the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nature of the match meant it was over as a contest by the time they sat down.

Fans with tickets on Thursday, when Raducanu is likely to play her next match against Ukraine’s Daria Snigur, will hope for better weather.

Ready for another go at a grand slam?

Frankly, who knows? It is hard to read too much into Raducanu’s level when her opponent provided so little resistance.

But Raducanu’s own assessment was an overwelmingly positive one.

“I’m surprised in a way, how well I came out and played,” Raducanu said.

“On the other hand, I have been doing some great work. Sometimes good results happen and you don’t know why.”