By Martyn Herman
LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - Nothing gets British fans more giddy at Wimbledon than a home favourite making a deep run in the tournament, and with Emma Raducanu back in form and Jack Draper back from injury, expectation levels are set to soar again.
Raducanu became the darling of British tennis with a stunning U.S. Open triumph as a teenage qualifier in 2021 but has struggled to get anywhere near hitting such heights again.
Since then, the 23-year-old's career has been plagued by injuries,
illness and a revolving door of coaches and she has only once reached the fourth round of a Slam since her Flushing Meadows fairytale — at Wimbledon in 2024.
Now reunited with Andrew Richardson, the coach she split with shortly after her U.S. Open triumph, Raducanu has shown signs of rediscovering her spark and returning to the free-flowing tennis she was known for.
That was evident at the Queen's Club Championship where she reached the final and lost to Croatia's experienced Donna Vekic — a run that means she will be seeded 30th at Wimbledon.
DRAPER BACK FROM INJURY
Her decision to withdraw from the Nottingham Open rather than try to build on the momentum of Queen's raised some eyebrows and she skipped Eastbourne too, preferring instead to practise at the All England Club.
Having missed several tournaments this year recovering from a post-viral illness, Raducanu's decision to conserve her energy for the physical and mental strain of Wimbledon is understandable, although there is also a school of thought that a few more wins on grass would have been the perfect tonic.
"The one time in her entire career she played most days for three weeks she produced a level of tennis that won her a Grand Slam," American former world number one and three-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick said on his podcast Served.
"I know the value of winning, winning, winning going into a Slam. At some point she is going to have to play a lot of tennis. If I'm her coach and she's healthy I would say let's go and keep it going in Nottingham."
Former world number four Draper has played only a handful of matches since last year's Wimbledon as he battled with an arm injury and a knee condition.
He returned to action at Eastbourne this week for the first time since April with a very familiar face in his corner — Britain's two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.
NORRIE COULD MISS OWN PARTY
With so few matches in the tank, Draper will be managing his expectations, but the powerful left-hander will be fuelled by Murray's vast experience and a partisan crowd.
"Andy, truthfully, is one of my biggest inspirations. When I was younger, I remember him playing all the big events and being there to watch him," Draper said at Eastbourne.
"He believes in my game and he believes in me as a person. That's what I really need right now, coming back from the year I have had."
While Draper and Raducanu will command most of the home attention, 30-year-old Cameron Norrie will be the only British seed in the men's singles and will go about his business with the usual lack of fanfare.
He reached the quarter-finals last year and the semis in 2022 and should he still be in contention near the end of the second week it could mean he will have to miss his own stag weekend planned for Ibiza.
"It's a win-win I guess, if I am still in Wimbledon," Norrie told the Sun. "My friends will go anyway, they've got everything booked — they'll hopefully be watching the tennis from there."
Katie Boulter will hope to share the spotlight with Raducanu as she aims to go past the third round for the first time.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman;Editing by Alison Williams)
