Raducanu delights on Centre Court with opening win at Wimbledon

Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu made an impressive Centre Court debut by defeating Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck on opening Monday at Wimbledon.

The British teenager has been in a race against time to be fit after suffering a side strain at the WTA Tour event in Nottingham earlier this month, but she delighted fans with a superb 6-4 6-4 victory.

In her on-court interview, Raducanu said: "I know Alison's an extremely tricky opponent, she's had great results on grass. I played her last summer and on grass where the balls stay so low, it's extremely tricky to neutralise such a great serve.

"I'm extremely pleased to have come through that match and looking forward to hopefully playing in front of you guys again."

On the support she has received, the 19-year-old said: "I've been feeling it ever since I stepped on to the practice courts, people behind me going, 'Emma you've got this'. And I'm like, 'Yeah, I've got this'.

"I'm just so happy to stay another day."

Raducanu will next face Carolina Garcia, who beat Britain's Yuriko Miyazaki 4-6 6-1 7-6 (10-4).

Raducanu made the fourth round as a wild card at Wimbledon a year ago before her stunning victory as a qualifier at the US Open.

But her 2022 season has been plagued by injury setbacks, the latest a side strain at the start of the grass season that restricted her to just seven games on the surface. By contrast, this was Van Uytvanck's 15th match on grass this summer after lifting titles in Surbiton and Italy.

But Raducanu shook off any pre-tournament injury concerns and showed her quality as she battled through to the next round.

Both players looked nervy at the start of the contest and five break points went by in the opening two games.

Raducanu earned the first break