Emma Raducanu “cheersed” some fans on Court 1 after an unusual disruption during her first-round match. The world No. 40 was recouping at her bench during a changeover after winning the first set 6-3 over Mimi Xu when a fan in the stands popped open a bottle of champagne, and the cork went flying over her head.
The former US Open champion thought it was hilarious and went over to pick up the cork, which landed inside the service box, waving it in the air and offering it back to the spectators. But the BBC cut away to show the first set statistics, missing the light-hearted moment. And Raducanu addressed it at the end of her match.
“I’m glad people were having fun today,” Raducanu told the crowd after winning an all-British battle against teenage wildcard Xu.
“I saw a champagne cork fly onto the court so that was fun, glad you guys are having a good time, cheers to you!”
The British No. 1 was clearly enjoying herself on Wimbledon’s second-biggest showcourt on Monday. Her back, which has been troubling her on-and-off this season, wasn’t an issue, and she hit 25 winners to just 12 unforced errors.
Xu was clearly the underdog in the match and had a shaky start, throwing in plenty of mistakes, so the Court 1 crowd tried to get behind her and spur her on.
But Raducanu was happy with the level of support shown to both players – even though she didn’t love the idea of facing a countrywoman in round one.
She added: “I’m super pleased to have come through that match, it’s so difficult playing another Brit in the first round. When the draw came out, I can’t say that I was loving it, Mimi is such a good player.