Johanna Konta identifies what will be Emma Raducanu’s ‘big goals’ at

Former British tennis star Johanna Konta acknowledges the spotlight will be on Emma Raducanu during this year’s Wimbledon but expects the 21-year-old Briton to handle the external pressure well and focus on fulfilling her own goals that are likely to stay healthy and get matches before the US swing.

After missing last year’s Wimbledon due to three surgeries, Raducanu is fully at the start of this year’s grass season, and unless something unexpected happens, she will make her third main draw appearance at The Championships last year. 

For Raducanu, Wimbledon was a place where it all started for her as in 2021 she reached the round-of-16 as an 18-year-old wildcard in her Slam debut. That was when the tennis world heard of Raducanu, who went on to make history and become a Grand Slam champion two months later at the US Open.

When Raducanu returned to Wimbledon in 2022, all the eyes were on her but didn’t manage to do much since she was beaten by Caroline Garcia in the second round. But a lot has changed since Raducanu last played Wimbledon as she is now fully healthy – has improved her game – and seems to have matured more in the last few years. 

While world No. 30 Katie Boulter is the only British female tennis player ranked inside the top-100, former world No. 4 Konta believes Boulter will also get attention but underlines that the spotlight probably remains on Raducanu.

Konta on what she thinks will be Raducanu’s ‘big goal’ for the grass 

“I mean I would imagine for her, she would be looking to stay healthy physically, to play a lot of matches. That will be a big goal of hers. I think for her it will be more than just the grass, it will be to stay healthy into the US swing,” Konta told Tennis365.

“She obviously will have incredible memories from the US hard court swing, so I think in general just for her to stay healthy for the rest of this year and get as many matches as possible.

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