Within the first of her new Wimbledon columns, BBC Sport analyst Naomi Broady – a former top-60 participant on the WTA Tour – talk about how British primary Emma Raducanu will look to beat 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova.
Being Emma Raducanu, notably at Wimbledon, is rarely simple.
And it definitely is not going to be simple when she performs 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova in a troublesome second-round match on Wednesday.
Earlier than her triumph two years in the past, Vondrousova had barely performed on grass however is now probably the greatest WTA gamers on this floor.
Listed here are what I feel would be the keys in deciding an intriguing contest on Centre Court docket.
Raducanu wants to make use of her forehand aggressively
Since bringing Mark Petchey into her crew, Raducanu has achieved some technical work with him on the forehand and serve.
I feel the technical experience is what he brings to the desk. Emma is a intelligent lady and he or she likes to know ‘why?’ when she is advised to do one thing and needs to know the explanations behind it.
Mark, who used to educate Andy Murray when he was coming by, could be very technical and is ready to present these solutions.
That makes it simple for Emma to purchase into his concepts they usually share the identical imaginative and prescient about her tennis – which is essential.
In her first-round match towards Mimi Xu, Raducanu used her forehand successfully to win 50 of the 83 rallies which have been 4 photographs or fewer
She has made a couple of small tweaks on the forehand, and achieved the identical with the serve, and it’s a mindset shift of being extra aggressive.
In a match like she had towards Mimi Xu within the first spherical – somebody youthful, somebody from the identical nation, on the massive event of Wimbledon – the forehand is admittedly put to the take a look at.
The very fact it stood up in that tough scenario, and he or she may very well be courageous behind it, was vital.
Sometimes, if you are going to be extra aggressive you are going to be hitting nearer to the sidelines and enjoying with smaller margin.
You are hitting the ball a lot tougher and with that you simply take extra threat. So once you take extra threat it’s a must to be ready to simply accept it’s possible you’ll miss extra on events.
It is about protecting the stability – you want the success of the shot to outweigh the misses. It is risk-reward.
Why that may assist her take management from the baseline
Relatively than simply being constant, protecting the ball again in play and risking the opponent having the ability to assault you, it’s about Emma taking management of the baseline.
She is of course an aggressive baseliner and stands additional in on the return.
She does that so properly and it’s important for her to maintain the court docket place which she has gained all through the rally.
Towards Vondrousova, she might want to get the primary strike within the rally.
Vondrousova likes to regulate the purpose by being awkward together with her leftiness – utilizing the spin, opening up the court docket and, after all, placing the ball in from the alternative angle to which it often does.
Grass-court tennis specifically is about first-strike tennis, much more so once you’re enjoying somebody who likes to dictate early within the rally like Vondrousova.
The risk posed by Vondrousova
When an unseeded Vondrousova gained the title two years in the past, she was described as one of many unlikeliest Wimbledon champions ever.
That was as a result of she had beforehand gained solely 4 grass-court matches in her profession and was ranked forty second on the planet after lacking the earlier six months with a wrist harm.
Over the previous yr Marketa has struggled with a shoulder harm, enjoying solely 17 matches this season and dropping to 73rd and dropping outdoors the highest 150 in consequence.
However she reminded us all of her capacity by successful the grass-court Berlin title final week – beating Australian Open champion Madison Keys, 2023 Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur and world primary Aryna Sabalenka on the best way.
That is an unbelievable checklist. However what she does naturally suits so properly on to this floor.
Within the Czech Republic, they spend a number of time within the winter on indoor laborious courts. Getting used to that ball coming by low and quick means her sport could be very simply translated on grass.
Vondrousova adopted her Berlin title with a formidable victory over thirty second seed McCartney Kessler within the Wimbledon first spherical
Utilizing the lefty serve and forehand, she actually hits on the surface of the ball so she cuts by the sidelines earlier than the ball reaches the baseline and hits with much more angle than a number of the opposite gamers do.
She’s joyful to come back ahead, performs a number of doubles, and could be very snug coming as much as the web.
That’s once more one thing you’d develop on an indoor laborious court docket and transitions properly on to the grass.
With the serve it’s all in regards to the angles and opening up the court docket, however she will additionally disguise and flatten it out as and when she must and maintain her opponent guessing.
I feel she’s probably the greatest grass-court on the ladies’s tour – so Raducanu must be on the prime of her sport if she goes to discover a well past the previous Wimbledon champion.
Naomi Broady was talking to BBC Sport’s Jonathan Jurejko at Wimbledon
