In losing only three games to the Belgian, tutors for kids near me this was Raducanu’s most one-sided win since that fairytale of New York in 2021, and was close in performance levels to her victory over the world No 5, Jessica Pegula, at Eastbourne a week earlier. It would be a touch excitable to put Mertens in that bracket, so perspective is necessary, but at No 33 in the world, and top seed in the doubles here, she is no slouch. And yet this was not about the opposition so much as the 21-year-old woman ranked 135th who charged through her.
That was demonstrated quite brilliantly in this 75-minute annihilation of Elise Mertens to reach the third round. At times it resembled an act of bullying, such was the quality of a fallen star whose summer form is starting to hint at a sustained revival. If the tale of the past three years tells us anything, it is that Raducanu has already undergone a vast education since the most astonishing of starts.
Some of the problems have had more than a whiff of self-creation about them; others, kindergarten requirements particularly the injuries, can be traced to bad luck. But still she attracts a crowd like few others in these parts and there is considerable excitement about where this run will lead in a favourable side of the draw. It was at that point the topic of Murray was brought up. His farewell to Wimbledon had expected to culminate with a doubles collaboration with brother Jamie, but on Tuesday night he texted Raducanu to see if she fancied pairing up.
Her deliberations lasted around 10 seconds. Raducanu was relentless, which could be applied equally to her serving, groundstrokes and control of the big moments in a match that was closer than the scores suggest. Most of the games were competitive, but almost all of them were bent to Raducanu’s will on Court No 1. Her success through that period was built on an elevated level in moments of tension.
For the first of those break points, at 2-0 up, Raducanu impressively manoeuvred Mertens into a mistake; for the second, at 5-1, she was battered across a long rally before sucking Mertens to the net and then passed her with a backhand. The craft of her approach can be underrated. To go by her own words, a ‘dream came true’ in the morning, when it was confirmed she would pair with Andy Murray for the mixed doubles, before she then sprinted further away from recent nightmares in the evening.
‘I think some things are a once-in-a-lifetime memory,’ Raducanu said. ‘At the end of my life, when I’m like 70, I know I’m going to have that memory of playing Wimbledon with Andy Murray. It was an honour to be asked.
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