‘It’s a joke!’ – Emma Raducanu hits back at pressure claims after suffering second round Wimbledon exit

Emma Raducanu has slammed ‘joke’ suggestions that she was under pressure to perform at Wimbledon following her second-round elimination.

Caroline Garcia secured a straight sets win over the Briton on Centre Court on Wednesday evening to send the 19-year-old crashing out of the competition.

Raducanu has been firmly under the spotlight since her sublime US Open victory last year but insisted that triumph should serve to alleviate some the pressure on her shoulders, not add to it.

‘There is no pressure, why is there any pressure?’ Raducanu told a press conference.

‘I am still 19. It is a joke. I literally won a [Grand] Slam.

‘Yes, I have had attention. But I’m a slam champion, so no one’s going to take that away from me. If anything, the pressure is on those who haven’t done that.’

10th seed Raducanu had seen her grass-court preparation disrupted by a minor injury – pulling out of Nottingham just eight minutes into her opening match after suffering a side strain earlier this month.

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But the teen dismissed suggestions that knock held her back against Garcia and insisted she did not expect to reach the latter stages of this year’s competition.

‘I didn’t feel anything out there, I declared myself fully fit when I walked out there onto the court on the first day,’ she said.

‘But I’ve played seven hours of tennis in a month so to even compete with these girls at this level and win a round I think is a pretty good achievement.’

MORE: Emma Raducanu crashes out of Wimbledon in second round after straight sets defeat to Caroline Garcia